News
Cambodian farmers to get crop protection insurance cover, thanks to Global Parametrics
Parametric and index-based disaster risk transfer company, Global Parametrics (GP), has announced its support for the AGRIBEE Crop Insurance Pilot to provide extreme weather protection cover for smallholder rice farmers in Cambodia. GP is providing cover for the transaction from its Natural Disaster Fund (NDF). Through ...
CSOs urge ministry to release the full EIA
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have requested that the Ministry of Environment to publicly release the full details of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to ensure accountability and transparency of environmental governance in Cambodia. The request was made in the workshop on “Using Open EIA Reporting to ...
Sok Srey Lux
Palm Oil Labor Abuses Linked to World’s Top Brands, Banks
Jum’s words tumble out over the phone, his voice growing ever more frantic. Between sobs, he says he’s trapped on a Malaysian plantation run by government owned Felda, one of the world’s largest palm oil companies. His boss confiscated and then lost his Indonesian passport, he ...
Associated Press
How Cambodia can revive agriculture with big data
Once the backbone of Cambodia’s economy, agricultural growth is slowing. It stood at 7.2% between 2003 and 2007 and 4.5% between 2008 and 2012 but has hovered around 1% in recent years. In 2019, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors contributed just 20.7% to the country’s gross domestic product, ...
Grace Lim
Land to lose: coronavirus compounds debt crisis in Cambodia
As dark clouds approached her village in northwestern Cambodia one afternoon in July, Set Sreylon prepared for the monsoon that threatened to flood her new family home. While the rains were a concern, the 37-year-old feared a bigger threat to her property – the daily visits ...
Matt Blomberg, Mech Dara
In the Shadow of Riches, Fishers Face Eviction, Desperately Low Waters
Yan Khouvry was out fishing till 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning. He had set out late morning on Monday and plied the waters near Koh Dach all day and night. He returned with just two fish. Later on Tuesday morning, around 10 a.m., he was preparing ...
Mech Dara and Michael Dickison
Unwarranted sanctions: US move against Chinese firm in Cambodia strongly condemned
The government as well as the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia have strongly rejected and condemned the United States move to impose sanctions on Union Development Group (UDG), with Defence Minister General Tea Banh considering it part of US “geopolitical ambitions.” Academics also said yesterday the move ...
Ben Sokhean and Sen David
Tonle Sap Bottleneck comparison - September 2019 vs 2020
Prior to 2020, the 2019 wet season was one of the driest on record. The annual reversal of the Tonle Sap in Cambodia was severely delayed in 2019 but low rainfall plus upstream dam regulation (mostly from China’s 11 mainstream Mekong dams) have totally erased ...
Brian Eyler
Cambodia Hikes Minimum Wage by US $2 as Workers Grapple With Inflation in Coronavirus Economy
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor on Thursday announced a new minimum wage of U.S. $192 per month for 2021, an increase of only U.S. $2 from this year, drawing criticism from workers struggling with inflation amid an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. “Beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, garment ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Rights groups slam Cambodia's proposed clean-up drive
For almost 20 years, Lom Rithy has walked the streets of Phnom Penh with her cart, selling cold beverages to Cambodians. Although she doesn’t earn much, it is enough for the 37-year-old to take care of her family. “On an average, I make a daily profit ...
Ate Hoekstra (Phnom Penh)