Rural Animal Health Development Organization (RAHDO)

Mission:
RAHDO aims to improve the living conditions of the Cambodian poor in the Northwest provinces through:

1. Teaching and promoting sustainable agricultural production
2. Empowering local communities
3. Improving collaboration and solidarity
4. Discouraging migration
5. Increasing food supply and income

Project Name and Location:
Rural Animal Production for Sustainable Livelihood
Banteay Thmei Village, Banteay Meanchey Province

Project Summary:
The project aims to implement a Farmer Group for Community Development with the 35 poorest families living in Banteay Thmei village, along the Khmer-Thai border. The main struggle in the village is insufficient food security throughout the year, high unemployment rates and lack of opportunities for women to earn a living. RAHDO collaborated with the Farmer Group members and local authorities to design two income-generating activities:

• To provide training on Small Business Operation, Marketing, Management, Bookkeeping, Community Development and Community Savings and Loans
• To provide small business loans, hens, ducklings, piglets, fruit trees, and vegetable seeds and to train community members in agricultural and animal husbandry skills

RAHDO hopes that after learning these skills, Farmer Group members will begin to actively participate in community decision-making. Women will also be integrated and involved in community savings projects and decisions. RAHDO believes that women make successful and sustainable business investments and encourage education for the next generation. They say, “the more women work, the more society will develop.”

Impact of CCDF Grant:

• With the CCDF grant, RAHDO made Small Business Loans – enabling villagers to buy and sell produce, stock charcoal and acquire and expand irrigable land for farming
• With these small business loans, farmers are growing castor beans to produce castor oil – a sustainable bio-fuel – that is worth $260 USD per ton.
• In just six months – villagers were able to harvest 5 hectares of market-ready castor oil (roughly 41.25 tons)
• RAHDO’s micro-credit program, through which the loans were given, has earned $200 in interest income and re-invested it in the community
• RAHDO developed a “Rural Animal Production for Sustainable Livelihood” fund - enabling them to provide
• 110 chickens to 11 members
• 100 ducklings to 2 members
• 10 piglets to 10 members
• 50 fruit trees to 6 members
• RAHDO installed Pig Food Mulching Machines to assist small farmers in the breeding and selling of sows and piglets.
• Villagers also received training in:
• Improving agricultural productivity and animal raising
• Construction of household fisheries and tree nurseries

Economic Development of Rural Cambodia Organization

Mission:
Economic Development of Rural Cambodia Organization (EDeRCO) works with people in the rural areas of Cambodia to help them access economic and educational opportunities.

EDeRCO accomplishes its mission through the development of “Cow Banks,” capacity building through agricultural technique workshops and management and financial literary training.

Project Name and Location:
Environmental Friendly with Small Agriculture Business
Kos Korlor Village, Battambang Province

Project Summary:
The Environmental Friendly with Small Agricultural Business project aims to promote food security and economic self-sufficiency for the poorest rural families in Kos Korlor Village, in the Battambang Province, by providing 7 families with home gardens and compost fertilizer, micro loans and credit and savings workshops, and through piloting the System of Rice Intensification, which is methodology for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice cultivation by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients.

Implementation Process:

1. Once the loans distributed to the first five families are repaid, the remaining five families will receive loans to begin implementing the new agricultural technologies
2. Interest rate = 2% (community banks, local governments, and micro-finance institutions charge 5 – 20%).
3. Training in The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which has been shown to have the following benefits:
   1. Environmental. Reduces the demand for water, freeing up available water for other uses. Soil that is not over saturated increases bio diversity.
   2. Equity. SRI is easily accessible to farmers with small landholdings and enables them to maximize their productivity while minimizing the need to clear more land.
   3. Employment for Small Farmers. SRI methods are most effective when used with skill and care, so this labor and management-intensive method ensures a sustainable livelihood for small farmers.
4. Grain Quality. When the SRI rice paddy is milled, the output is higher, and there are fewer unfilled and broken grains than under normal procedures.
5. Faster Maturity. SRI methods reduce the time required for grain maturation. In Cambodia, on average, SRI crops are ripening seven days sooner than regular crops of the same variety
6. Health Benefits. By reducing the application of agrochemicals in rice production, the resulting grain has little to no chemical residue.
7. Cost Savings. SRI will reduce the cost of purchasing seeds.

For more information on The System of Rice Intensification, click here.

Impact of CCDF Grant:

• Provided seven families with training on using compost fertilizer and on the SRI,
• SRI training has been shown to have the following benefits:
• Upon completion of the training, the families were provided micro loans of between $75 and $100 USD, at 2% monthly interest. To date, all families are current on their loan payments.
• Since project implementation, families no longer use chemical fertilizer. Instead, they create organic compost fertilizer through biodegradable rubbish. Families are have successfully implemented the System of Rice Intensification.
• All of the seven families have indicated that loans and training have increased their income due to decrease in fertilizer costs and increased farm yields

Khmer Buddhist Association

KBA’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of the poorest people in Cambodia through continued education and training, promoting gender equality and environmental protection, and providing technical and financial support to encourage full participation in management and social development projects.

Project Name and Location:
Micro-Credit Self Help Group
Kandaek Village, Otdar Meanchey Province

Project Summary:
With CCDF funds, the Khmer Buddhist Association has establish a Micro-Credit Self Help Group in Kandaek Village, a region with an average per capital income of $0.50 per day. The objectives of the program are to promote income enhancement and food security for the poorest families by providing 20 families with micro loans of US$ 40 per family, as well as training in basic accounting, management and reporting. The Kandaek Village has a total population of 678 (331 women) composed of 114 families. UNICEF reports that in this region of Cambodia, 46% of the children are underweight and 43% exhibit stunted growth. All villagers are dependent on agricultural activities such as rice growing, and raising and selling pigs.

Impact:
Loans were made to twenty families for the following:

• Ten families: fertilizer
• Seven families: purchase of pigs
• Three families: purchase of hens
• All loan recipients were provided training on animal husbandry and fertilizer use, as well as financial management.
• KBA provided loans at 1% interest, earning a profit of $20 – which was recycled back into the community.
• Average income of loan recipients rose from $0.50 per day to $1.31 per day
• Over a period of just six months, the beneficiaries of small business loans are now financing their own projects, and the savings accounts of community members are growing
• 100% of loans have been repaid in full
• As of June 2009, ALL original CCDF loan capital has been re-paid and re-loaned to three new members of the community.