No sign of relief for rice industry
As the harvest season of Cambodia’s most important crop kicks off, a crisis is looming as both rice farmers and millers face crippling capital shortages and a promised industry lifeline has yet to materialise. Industry experts said on September 14 that these small farmers desperate to pay their debt obligations have had no choice but to sell the harvested rice from their drought and flood-damaged fields at a loss. Meanwhile, millers unable to obtain bank finance are cutting back on purchases, pushing farm-gate prices even lower. The sector’s best hope – a $20 million to $30 million package of government-backed emergency loans to help rice millers purchase paddy from farmers for processing or stockpiling – remains entangled in bureaucratic red tape. If the funds are not released by the end of the harvest in November, the economic and social impact could be immense.
