Cambodia Tbong Khmum
$40,296 needed of $45,000
Implementing Organization
World Hope International (WHI)
Program Summary
The Tbong Khmum Livelihood Project aims to create livelihood opportunities for vulnerable communities to help improve their household incomes and reduce their vulnerabilities to exploitation, unsafe migration and help prevent human trafficking through improved access to agricultural and non-agricultural skills development in selected communities in Dombae District, Tbong Khmum Province.
The main component of the project is to develop market-driven agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises using appropriate approaches being tested with model farmers in the current on-farm trials in Kork Srok commune, Dombae District.
To help reduce unsafe migration, human trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable families resulting from the impact of COVID19 to poor households, awareness raising is extended to schools as additional prevention activities. Small groups of men and women are established in communities for Keeping Safe activities.
Capacity building of service providers and social workers is being implemented for a more trauma-sensitive client-centered approach as they respond to the needs of survivors of human trafficking, exploitation and sexual and gender-based violence.
Success Stories
Sometimes All it Takes is a Little Support
If putting in hard work could guarantee success, Pheak and his wife, Mengly, would have been wealthy from sales of their commercial spring onion (green onion) crop. As it was, their expenses kept them from making much of a living, until a little help with inputs and instruction from World Hope International finally allowed them to overcome their challenges.
The couple practiced traditional techniques for growing this ingredient which is essential to the local cuisine, but chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and the gasoline required to pump water to their eight rows of onions took a chunk out of their income. As did having to pay day laborers for their assistance in preparing the soil, planting, weeding and harvesting. In fact, they had never received instruction in keeping books, so even when they thought they’d done well there wasn’t much cash to show at the end of the season to run their home and operations and meet the needs of their six-year-old son.
Things changed when Pheak and Mengly were chosen by World Hope International to receive training and in-kind assistance. The couple learned basic record-keeping skills and some simple yet cost-effective farming techniques to cope with climate change. Among them were mixing agricultural lime and rice straw into the earth to improve soil nutrients and retain moisture longer. This first round of inputs were provided by the program.
Pheak initially tested the new practices on three of his eight rows. After the 45-day growing period, the couple’s yield had improved from their previous yield of 240-310 lbs per row to an impressive 395 lbs per row, all while saving half of their labor and gasoline expenses.
Pheak and Mengly both expressed gratitude for the opportunity, support and encouragement. Pheak said, “I plan to use rice straw and agricultural lime on my whole operation during the next crop cycle, because it clearly made a big difference in both yield and profit.”
Cambodia Tbong Khmum Program
Led by World Hope International