Search

Agricultural Cooperatives (ACs) have empowered farmers to develop resources sustainably. They transfer traditional subsistence agriculture to diversify crops and develop a value chain. This paper aims to analyze local engagement by focusing on the degree of participation, factors influencing local engagement in ACs operations and the constraints of ACs operations to support communities. With a cohort of 421 farmer members in the Kampong Speu and Pursat provinces of Cambodia, household surveys were designed to consider how factors influence local engagement. It was discovered that: (i) local engagement in ACs operations is limited, and management of boards of directors is a critical constraint to motivating local involvement; (ii) local engagement in ACs operations is associated with access to water, benefits from ACs, participation in ACs activities, risk control and ACs management, and ACs operations do not promote access to agricultural inputs; and (iii) ACs operations have faced several constraints, including poor management, inadequate capital accumulation, unavailable loans, loan mismanagement, a lack of skills, high illiteracy levels, small share values, a lack of access to credit facilities, access to the competitive market and a lack of support from extension services. This empirical study, with implications from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), addresses a gap in the literature by exploring engagement in ACs operations.

This paper investigates fishery governance in Tonle Sap, Cambodia, with a specific focus on fishery management since 1963 and recent determinants of political participation. The research suggests t...

The paper examines and compares the transnational labour migration from Cambodia to Malaysia and South Korea, based on the first-hand data and information collected through in-depth interviews with concerned migrant labour. The study sheds light on that the Cambodian workers have changed to engage in new types of unskilled jobs when they move to work in Malaysia and South Korea, which are different from their occupations in Cambodia. The study demonstrates that labour migration to Malaysia and South Korea has helped maximizing the incomes of concerned households through sending remittance as a prevalent mode of risk minimisation. This study sheds light on the different patterns between the migrants in Malaysia and South Korea in two aspects: 1) remittance to home: the vast majority of the migrant workers in South Korea sent their salaries back home by remittance, while those in Malaysia sent limited remittance back home; 2) different mechanisms: scheme of Government-Agency (G-A) for emigration to Malaysia and Government-Government (G-G) for that to South Korea. The study enriches the literature on transnational labour migration by the evidence of brain drain from Cambodia to South Korea and Malaysia.

This article investigates the working and living conditions of Cambodian temporary labour migrant workers in Malaysia. Specifically, the types of employment accessed, the vulnerabilities experience...

A rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak has recently shifted teaching and learning at higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide from the traditional classroom to the online process. During the educational disruption, online teaching and learning have become an alternative to pursue education. This paper aims to analyze the antecedents and consequences of students’ study commitment at Cambodia’s HEIs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research focused upon: adaptation of online teaching and learning, consequences and antecedents of students’ study commitment to online learning, and factors influencing students’ willingness to participate in online learning during the post–COVID-19 pandemic. The research was primarily based on an online survey among 1002 undergraduate students at Cambodia’s largest and oldest University for quantitative data. The SPSS 25 and AMOS 23 were adopted to proceed with the data analysis, especially in Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). We found that: (1) two stages of online teaching and learning processes were adopted at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP): individually-managed and institutionally-managed processes; (2) the students’ study commitment played an active role in improving their learning satisfaction. Meanwhile, academic support is one of the most outstanding factors influencing students’ online learning; and (3) in the post–COVID pandemic, 81.4% of undergraduate students did not propose to continue online learning. The survey confirms that online learning significantly reduced their academic performance, and 62.3% claimed online teaching negatively affected their studies. A prediction reveals that gender, the effect of online learning, permanent address, and home WIFI connection influence the students’ willingness to take online education in the post–COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this research have advanced knowledge of students’ study commitment and provided scientific evidence for practitioners, planners, policymakers, and researchers to promote online teaching and learning at Cambodia’s HEIs during the post–COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate change is unequivocal. Farmers are increasingly vulnerable to floods and drought. In this article, the negative impact of climate hazards on rice cultivation in the Tonle Sap and Mekong River influenced by climatic variability between 1994 and 2018 are analyzed. A cohort of 536 households from four Cambodian districts participated in household surveys designed to consider how various vulnerability factors interacted across this time series. It was found that: (i) The major climate hazards affecting rice production between 1994 and 2018 were frequent and extreme flood and drought events caused by rainfall variability, (ii) In 2018, extreme flood and drought occurred in the same rice cultivation cycle. The impact caused by each hazard across each region were similar, (iii) An empirical model was used to demonstrate that drought events tend to limit access to irrigation, impact rice production, and result in an increased prevalence of water-borne diseases. Flood events cause reduced rice production, damage to housing, and impede children from accessing education. The impact of drought events on rice production was found to be more severe than flood events, however, each climatic hazard caused physical, economic, social, and environmental vulnerabilities. It is recommended that sufficient human and financial resources are distributed to local authorities to implement adaptation measures that prepare rice farmers for flood and drought events and promote equitable access to water resources.

In this paper, I analyze the degree to which the Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG1) has alleviated poverty; pro-poor growth development-associated constraints; inequality of growth and income distribution in the LMB, Cambodia. The findings of the study reveal: that pro-poor growth development has proven ineffective; that growth and income distribution are unequal; and, that poverty is caused by unproductive agriculture with insufficiency of infrastructure, skills and markets. I argue that MDG 1 may not be achieved without future effort being made towards realizing even contribution between the agricultural and other sectors; enhancing economic development; and, increased investment in infrastructure and skill building.

Southeast Asians were some of the first refugees arriving in the United States of America with federal refugee assistance after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. A large population from Cambodia entered the United States in the 1980s as a result of one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. In this paper, I investigate the scope and motives for remittances from the United States that are transferred to Cambodia, the country of origin of the refugees. This will be done by taking a closer look at trends in remittances between 1992 and 2013, factors that contribute to the decisions to send remittances, and the characteristics of remittance recipients. The study found out that: (1) around half of the total remittances in the world transferred to Cambodia were derived from the United States, while amounts from each individual sender depended upon the economic condition of Cambodian Americans and the financial needs of their target recipient; (2) factors influencing decision-making in sending...

This paper analyses key contributors to sustainable livelihoods in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), Cambodia, by focusing upon villagers' access to assets, adaptation to shock and stress, and their degree of resilience to declines in natural resources. The study reveals that their access to the five assets for sustainable livelihoods is limited; that their capacity to adapt to shock and stress is low due to floods, drought and high food prices; and that their resilience to declines in natural resources is weak. Improvement in their capacity to adapt and in their resilience will be influenced by the degree to which they can access human, physical and social assets.

The decentralization reforms in the 1990s have transferred accountability/responsibilities for community development to the elected local governments in Cambodia. This paper examines the roles and contributions of local institutions to livelihood development under decentralization and deconcentration (DD funding gaps of Commune Councils (CoCs); types of available support; and problems faced by the CoCs. The findings of the study reveal that CoCs are weakly established and become less accountable to local needs. DD and the decentralized CoCs could not improve the livelihoods of the communities significantly. The findings suggest that decentralized local institutions call for increased human and financial resources, improved decision-making, and integrative participation of the private sector.

Food security is a major issue in the struggle to attain sustainable development and poverty reduction in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). In this article, we aim to determine food security situation in the rural riverine communities of the LMB, Cambodia. The degree and frequency of – and local responses to – food shortages and past, current and future trends in employment opportunities are analysed. In our detailed study of the Upper, Middle and Lower stretches along the LMB, we found that: (1) food insecurity exists in all three areas and has been mostly concentrated among the poor over the last decade; (2) there is a close association between food shortages and poverty, but no relationship between food shortages and its consequences; (3) local responses to food insecurity have proven ineffective leaving the villagers to deal with it by simply reducing their food consumption; and, (4) the existing local employment could not ensure food security and sustainable livelihoods of the villagers. The findings sug...

This paper broadly assesses some reasons why co-management of inland fisheries by resource users and state agencies in Cambodia remains difficult to realize. Our survey of the resources, human capacity and associated de facto mechanisms for achieving community fisheries (CFi) objectives among fishing communities of Krakor District, located along Tonle Sap Lake, found these mobilizations at a crossroads in terms of empowered institutional and legal frameworks. Although the commune is a local administrative authority in the context of Cambodia's evolving decentralization and deconcentration (D&D) reform process, decision making and accountability in natural resource management have yet to be transferred to, or opened to participation from, local and subcommune level stakeholders and agencies. Furthermore, the institutional links between the commune council and CFi are ambiguous. This lack of linkages between central government, state agencies and CFi has left fisherfolk struggling to survive against more powerful competing interests. The preliminary findings presented here suggest that the achievement of sustainable CFi management in the Tonle Sap Lake remains problematic without local level decision making powers, sustained funding of CFi and related local government, and partnership between key shareholders in rural development programmes that recognize and encompass women's roles in natural resource management.

Floods are a normal feature of the monsoon season around the Tonle Sap Great Lake and areas neighboring the Mekong River in Cambodia. In some years, floods are much more severe than others; in particular, when there is a combination of high discharge from upstream and a high run-off from rainfall within the area. Actions taken by villagers could help build resilience at household and community levels against these more serious floods and thus reduce the risks of disasters, loss of life, and costly damage. In a detailed study of impacts and responses to floods in Angkor Ang village in Prey Veng Province, we found evidence of major barriers to effective actions by villagers and other actors working at community and other levels. Building and maintaining resilience in flood-prone communities requires that attention be given to local capacity and knowledge, differences in wealth or poverty, gender relations, and local participation. Moreover, these factors need to be examined in various social processes before, during, and after major floods.