In October 2008, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the government of Cambodia’s request for assistance in responding to the crisis in food prices, deemed to escalate with the looming decline in food production due to the increasing prices of fertilizers and gasoline that could drive transport, irrigation, and other agricultural production costs higher. Specifically, ADB approved a grant of $17.5 million and a loan of the same amount for Cambodia’s Emergency Food Assistance Project, which had three components: (i) compensatory consumption that helped meet the food needs of vulnerable households through free distribution and a food-for-work (FFW)/cash-for-work (CFW) scheme, (ii) productivity enhancement support that provided seed and fertilizer subsidies to smallholders and marginal farmers, and (iii) capacity development. The project’s expected impact was reduced vulnerability of food-insecure households in seven provinces around the Tonle Sap basin and three extremely poor slum communities in Phnom Penh. Its planned outcome was improved access to adequate and nutritious food by food-insecure households.
In September 2012, ADB also approved a grant of $24.5 million from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program in additional financing (AF) to support the implementation of more medium-term measures to address the structural constraints to increasing productivity. While the AF’s expected impact was left unchanged from the original project, its outcome was modified to reflect project expansion to six new provinces and continued operation in four of the original seven provinces. Key among its planned outputs were: (i) increased availability and awareness of nutritious food and hygiene, (ii) increased access to improved agricultural inputs and technologies, and (iii) improved capacity to mainstream food security.
At completion, the original project produced a large and diverse range of outputs, exceeding almost all the targets set at appraisal. 126,598 households, 30% of whom were women-headed, received a combination of free rice, averaging 123 kilogram per household, and earnings of $83−$110 per year from the food-/cash-for-work program that generated over 2 million person-days of work. The FFW scheme rehabilitated 210 kilometers (km) of rural roads and 4.6 km of dug canals, while the CFW rehabilitated 582 km of rural roads and 76 km of canals that improved wet season cultivation potential on about 22,000 hectares. 3,625 farmer households, 19% of them women-headed, received subsidies for seeds and fertilizers. Two research stations were upgraded, and the Cambodia Food Reserve System was established.
Under the AF, 413 km of rural roads and 59 km of tertiary irrigation canals were rehabilitated, providing employment to 29,563 households, 32% of them women-headed. Some 33,339 households received training and provisions for home gardening, nutrition, and basic health, hygiene, and sanitation. Poverty-focused environment and technology training and production input subsidies were also provided to food-insecure farmers and women.
Successful delivery of all the key output targets enabled both the original and AF projects to meet or exceed their outcome targets. This was despite a major change in scope, which led to the cancellation of about 30% of the original loan. Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance was executing agency. A central and seven provincial project management units took charge of day-to-day implementation.
