This short paper examines existing methods and tools used to understand climate change impacts, local vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities, with a focus on water governance and water use, in three target areas in the Tonle Sap Basin. Assessment of the effects of climate change requires an integrated framework approach. That framework is made up of (1) country climate data downscaled to catchment level for use in distributed hydrological models, including the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), Integrated Water Quantity […]

Cambodia is divided into four agro-ecological zones—the Tonle Sap plain, Mekong plain, mountains/plateau and coast—representing heterogeneous agricultural activity, population and livelihood systems (UNDP 2011b). Climate change impacts and the adaptive capacity of the people differ from one zone to another. Adaptation measures have varied according to the sector and the locality, adaptive capacity and severity of the impacts. Even though co-management by the state and communities of forest, fishery and water resources has been improved, local communities’ capacity to respond […]

This paper explores labour market structure and employment links to poverty in Cambodia. Employment elasticity of growth, labour productivity and real wage growth are the main indicators of the labour market situation, while probit models estimate the connection between household employment and poverty likelihood. The paper combines macro and micro data to perform a descriptive analysis. For probit estimation, it uses the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey (CSES) 2007-11. The results show that agriculture, albeit with a slow growth rate, absorbed a […]

Agriculture plays a crucial part in Cambodia’s economy, accounting for about 27.3 percent of GDP in 2010. The sector engages at least 59 percent of the economically active population, and over 90 percent of the population lives in rural areas where agricultural activities remain the primary source of livelihood. Agricultural growth, on average, was about 4.6 percent per year over the period 1994–2010. This growth is largely attributable to the crops sub-sector, which contributes more than 50 percent of agricultural […]