Foreign Investment in Agriculture in Cambodia

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...


Poverty and Environment Links: The Case of Rural Cambodia

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...


Decentralised Governance in a Hybrid Policy: Localisation of Decentralisation Reform in Cambodia

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 theo...


Decentralised Governance of Irrigation Water in Cambodia: Matching Principle to Local Realities

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...


Hydrological Analysis in Support of Irrigation Management: A Case Study of Stung Chrey Bak Catchment, Cambodia

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 stakeh...


Catchment Governance and Cooperation Dilemmas: A Case Study from Cambodia

Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) is a recent ideal approach to be introduced into the Cambodian national strategy on water management to ensure better planning and management of water and other related resources in a catchment. A new multi-level catchment body or a committee is soon to be established as a result. Integral to ICM is coopera...


An Investigation of Land Cover and Land Use Change in Stung Chrey Bak Catchment, Cambodia

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 stakehol...


Irregular Migration from Cambodia: Characteristic, Challenges and Regulary Approach

Migration via irregular channels has been the most popular option for Cambodian workers seeking jobs abroad as it is widely regarded as relatively secure, convenient and cheap. But some migrants face abuse and exploitation while others become victims of human trafficking. Irregular migration raises serious issues about the protection and management...


The Impact of Irrigation on Household Assets

This paper is based on data from 220 selected households surveyed during 2008-2010 and is intended to shed some light on the relationship between irrigation and household assets such as durable assets, livestock, farm equipment, cows and buffalo, and pull/plough animals. Since irrigation is widely seen as being an endogenous variable, the Instr...


What Limits Agricultural Intensification in Cambodia? The Role of Emigration, Agricultural Extension Services and Credit Constraints

This paper attempts to define the factors which determine emigration and rice doublecropping, i.e. rice cultivation on the same plot twice per year, by rural households in Cambodia, and investigates whether these decisions influence each other using data from a two-period panel survey of 231 households in three provinces in rural Cambodia. In t...