This research project represents the first baseline socioeconomic survey that CDRI has conducted for the Greater Mekong Sub-region Transmission Project of Asian Development Bank. The study was designed to develop a set of comprehensive baseline demographic, social and economic as well as energy consumption indicators for the project. The tools for data collection were village and household surveys in 27 villages, of which 17 villages are potentially project beneficiaries (treatment group) and 10 are non-beneficiaries (control group). It then used […]

Although country contextual differences and pre-conditions must be carefully considered when attempting to replicate economic growth and poverty reduction models, Cambodia could consider experiences of some Asian countries like China, India, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam to further improve its poverty reduction strategies and implementation. Cambodia could also utilise foreign assistance and international cooperation by redirecting resources to support activities which have the highest possible effects on poverty alleviation.In the case of China’s development experience, Cambodia can learn from its […]

This paper calculates basic consumer price indices for Cambodia for 1993-2009, using data gathered in provincial markets, using the Phnom Penh Consumer Price Index base periods of 1994, 2000 and 2006 of the Cambodian National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The key output of the paper is a National Basic Consumer Price Index for Cambodia.The paper began as a review of the basic price indices calculated by CDRI using consumer price data collected since 1993 for 12 provincial urban and rural […]

Poverty in Cambodia is one of the highest in Asia. Despite the country’s very impressive GDP growth in the last decade or so, poverty remains pervasive specifically in the rural areas. The food and economic crises along with the idiosyncratic shocks of the recent years put the plight of the poor and near-poor at even greater risk. The Poverty Dynamics Study (PDS), as a longitudinal monitoring exercise, helps shed light on the extent, determinants, and nuances of the face of […]

This paper uses four years of panel data on 793 households collected during 2001–11 to measure chronic poverty in rural Cambodia and to identify its key determinants. A household wealth index—a proxy for long-term welfare—constructed by polychoric principal component analysis is used as welfare indicator. Both ordered logistic and multinomial logistic regression models are adopted to identify the causes of chronic and transient poverty by focusing particularly on five explanatory variables: agricultural land and livestock, demography, human capital, social capital […]

Cambodia’s economy is largely based on the agricultural sector and this sector is the main water user in Cambodia (Wokker et al. 2011a: 1-3). Several studies acknowledge that wet season rice farming is crucially important for livelihoods. With such farming being historically dependent on rainfall, the majority of lowland farmers grow just one crop a year. In recent years, increasingly irregular rainfall, generally associated with climate change, has adversely affected crop production. As a result, water shortages have led to […]

Environment and poverty nexus is still a polemical issue. Some schools of thought claim that it is poverty that has the major effect on the environment, while another perspective suggests that the environment has more impact on the poor than vice-versa because the poor have no power to exploit the environment. In the context of Cambodia, there is a general consensus that the poor, particularly those living in rural areas, are heavily dependent on the environment i.e. common property resources. […]

This paper reviews the progress of the decentralisation and deconcentration (D&D) reform in Cambodia. It revisits the conflicting positive and negative views on the achievements of the reform in the literature. The goal of the reform is twofold: promotion of local democracy and improvement of local service delivery. Both of these goals are theoretically related to the assumption that decentralisation brings about various social, economic and political benefits through the enhancement of local government’s accountability and responsiveness, people’s participation in […]

The noticeable rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in agricultural land in developing countries in Africa, South and Central Asia and Latin America in recent years has sparked concerns among civil society groups and international organisations as to the potential impacts on poor local communities’ access to resources. Growing interest from foreign investors in agriculture in Cambodia, particularly in agro-industrial crops like rubber, cassava, sugarcane and maize, has likewise raised concern about the potential effects of such investments on community […]

Cambodia is currently embarked on a significant programme of irrigation development. The technical design of irrigation projects has generally improved, but there remain a number of challenges in the governance of irrigation that inhibit the schemes from working effectively, equitably and sustainably. This study investigates the extent to which the governance of irrigation matches the requirements of diverse irrigation schemes through detailed ethnographic study of three schemes: Rolous and Stung Chinit in Kampong Thom province and Damnak Ampil (DAP) in […]

This study examines the possibility of supporting improved catchment irrigation management by evaluating scenarios based on sound hydrological analysis using the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP). The scenarios identify clear options and practical implications for irrigation management which can inform policymakers and relevant stakeholders. These stakeholders include the Farmer Water User Communities (FWUCs), commune councils (CCs), and the Provincial Departments of Water Resources and Meteorology (PDOWRAM) who are currently in charge of irrigation management at community and provincial levels. […]

This working paper presents the findings of research undertaken on land use and land cover (LULC) change in Cambodia, with a focus on water resource development and local livelihoods in Stung Chrey Bak catchment, Kompong Chhnang province. The research aims to provide improved information of LULC to researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders and was undertaken as one of three research components of the Water Resource Management and Research Capacity Development Programme (WRMRCDP).  This study investigates the interaction between water […]