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 […]

This paper presents the main findings of the Policy Coherence for Agriculture and Rural Development study. Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) is about making sure that policies for sector development do not contradict or undermine one another and that as far as possible, policies are complementary and create synergy. In practice, it is about reconciling the multiple concerns of diverse stakeholders. Our study aimed to identify: (1) the major problems related to coherence among agriculture and rural development (ARD) policies; […]

The deepening trade relation between Cambodia and China has brought about significant expansion of bilateral trade between the two nations; however, Cambodia’s negative trade balance continues to widen at an average annual growth rate of 34 percent. The study uses the framework developed by Jenkins and Edwards (2004) to examine China-Cambodia trade and its implications for poverty reduction in Cambodia through three specific dimensions, namely export to China, import from China and export to the third market.  The pattern of […]

To achieve democratic development, Cambodia’s next step towards fiscal decentralisation will focus on both institutional and service delivery reform at district level so as to strengthen the capacity of the sub-national administration and better link it to sectoral service delivery. To move forwards, fiscal decentralisation needs to be comprehensive and well coordinated with other cross-cutting reforms, especially the Public Financial Management Reform Programme, and sectoral reforms. This does not mean that everything has to be done at the same time, […]

A growing population requires more food. Many farmers who grow dry season rice lack irrigation, not only because of lack of water in the catchment, but also because of the lack of irrigation infrastructure and a proper water allocation mechanism. This paper reports on research conducted in Stung Chrey Bak catchment in Kompong Chhnang province to explore the interactions between water use, water policy, physical systems and institutional frameworks for catchment management.

Over the last few decades, state agencies, development organisations and private sector agencies have focused efforts not only on developing physical irrigation infrastructure but also on establishing effective management mechanisms. The empirical data compiled in this paper identifies the everyday issues of irrigation water governance at local level, particularly coordination between actors, water allocation within and between schemes, farmer participation, project evaluation and planning, and the emergence of private schemes.

The study seeks to identify the factors that enable or constrain the good governance of common-pool resources in Cambodia using irrigation water as the case for analysis. It found that the decentralised natural resource management approach was not functioning, whereas local implementation of community-based natural resource management to manage irrigation water was working, though unsatisfactorily. The low performance of the latter is due to the difficulty maintaining community commitment to paying irrigation service fees, a lack of local ownership of […]

There is growing interest in promoting cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan province of China, where socioeconomic development varies widely between countries. Job creation in the worse-off countries does not keep pace with increases in the labour force. Due to the higher wages in Thailand and lack of year round farming in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, millions of people venture over the border to work in Thailand. This report by the […]

Most Cambodian migrants travel by illegal or informal routes, mainly to Thailand, as the legal option is costly and inconvenient. Government agencies face a huge challenge in managing this growing labour migration. Since the creation of productive jobs does not keep pace with the number of new entrants to the labour force, the pressure to emigrate in search of employment is likely to increase. This study, as part of a regional study by the GMS-Development Analysis Network (now GMS-Net), provides […]

Cambodia’s agricultural sector accounted for 27 percent of GDP in 2007 and employed about 56 percent of the total labour force, especially the poor. Aware of the importance of agricultural trade for economic growth and poverty reduction, the government’s approach has been to enhance agricultural exports while developing the sector. This study examines how to best promote agricultural trade in the region in order to optimise benefits and minimise negative impacts. Cassava and rubber are the subject of in-depth analysis […]

Agriculture creates a sense of commonality and connection among the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS); however, its contribution to regional economies varies, being huge in Laos and Cambodia and much smaller in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. This paper summarises and synthesises the five country case studies, undertaken by the GMS Development Analysis Network (now GMS-Net), which aim to build knowledge on the availability, quality and exchange of information related to agricultural production and trade, particularly in relation to […]