1. Background of CEDAC
For three decades Cambodia was ravaged by civil war, genocide and authoritarian regimes. The Cambodian
Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) was set up in August 1997 as a national Cambodian NGO, to
develop sustainable agriculture
and rural development in Cambodia in response to the country's desperate need for national reconstruction. CEDAC was created
with initial support from the French non-government organization GRET (Group for Research and Exchange of Technology).
Seven people worked with CEDAC at the beginning, and we supported farmers in 2 villages in Kandal Province. As of October, 2008, there were 272 people including 94 women working with CEDAC (209 people or 77% work as technical staff and another 63 people or 23% work in administration), providing direct assistance to about 86,000 farmers from 2716 villages, 454 communes and 91 districts in 20 provinces of Cambodia.
More than 1000 students and rural development practitioners have benefited from CEDAC’s training and
exchange program. More than 100 organizations and agencies (community, national and internal organizations, foreign government
agencies and multilateral organizations) have been cooperating with CEDAC during its 9 years of operation. CEDAC publications,
especially the Farmer Magazine and Farmer and Nature Booklet series are widely used by farmers and development workers in
Cambodia. Currently, CEDAC is considered as the biggest Cambodian Agriculture and Rural Development NGO.
Originally, the activities of the center focused on agriculture research and training.
In 2002, CEDAC expanded its field operations, especially for farmer training and extension programs.
We developed a five year plan (2003-2007) aimed at supporting farmers in 1200 villages. As a result of
achieving our plan objectives earlier than expected and the growing demand for our services, we have
recently developed an ambitious strategic plan for 2008-2012. This plan aims at supporting 500,000 farming
families or 2.5 million people (around 25% of Cambodia’s farming population) to enhance their lives through
sustainable farming methods and improved social cooperation and cooperative business practices.
The new plan will focus on farmer led agricultural research and extension, community-based
natural resources management, cooperative business (community finance and marketing) and the development
of participatory local government.
A book on CEDAC’s 10 years of experience with agriculture and rural development in Cambodia will be published in 2007. GRET is
also producing a book on the growth of CEDAC and a history of CEDAC and GRET’s cooperation.
2. CEDAC vision and mission
CEDAC envisions a Cambodian society where small farming households enjoy good living conditions and strong mutual cooperation,
with the right and power to determine their own destiny, as well as playing an important role in supplying healthy food for the whole society.
To achieve this vision we are committed to working for the improvement of lives of small farmers and other rural poor by
enabling them to increase food production and income while ensuring environmental sustainability and maintaining strong social
cooperation.
CEDAC's work focuses on:
- Building the capacity of the producer organization and networks, as well as linking them to market
- Enabling rural communities to have access to information, responsible services and resources for the improvement of family economy and for sustainable rural development
- Improving the living conditions and social status of marginalized, vulnerable and under-represented social groups
- Supporting the development of participatory and environmentally-oriented local government
- Building networks and partnerships which promote the development of ecologically-based family agriculture
3. CEDAC's Accomplishments
Village and Farmer Activities: CEDAC started to work with farmers in 2 villages of Kandal province in 1997. As of October 2008, activities have expanded into 2716 of 20 provinces of Cambodia. 86,000 farming families (430,000 individuals) are now collaborating with CEDAC.
Pesticide Issues: Since 1999, CEDAC has been very active in working to address the issues of pesticide overuse and abuse in Cambodia (www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/pn56/pn56p6.htm) through research-based education and nationwide public-awareness campaigns, using the cooperation of pesticides reduction networks and mass media.
System of Rice Intensification (SRI): During its first field introduction in 2000, only 28 farmers tested SRI methods (www.oxfamamerica.org/advocacy/art5293.html; www.farmingsolutions.org/successtories/stories.asp?id=129). By 2007, around 82,476 farmers were using SRI methods of which 49,000 farmers are directly supported by CEDAC. SRI has now been adopted into national strategies and is strongly promoted by government and NGOs (please refer to Achievements – Example 1).
Farmer and Nature Net: This first national farmer network was set up in 2003, with coordination and capacity-building support from CEDAC. Now, the network has been joined by 1140 village-based associations (having 30,176 farmer-members including 16,124 women). Farmer organizations have become vital for the development of sustainable agriculture in Cambodia.
Saving for Self-Reliance: This initiative was set up by CEDAC in 2003 to support farmers to establish and manage Saving for Self-Reliance groups. These groups now number 3,622 (having 53,311 members including 32,267 women), and the scheme provides enhanced access to community-led saving and credit services in 2, 029 villages, 412 communes, 80 districts and 17 provinces of Cambodia. The total amount of savings is now approximately 5,100 million riel.
Wood Energy: CEDAC initiated the establishment of Wood Energy Network of Cambodia (Wenetcam: www.wenetcam.net) in 2001 to promote the distribution of firewood-saving cook-stoves. Now, 15 organizations are members of the network and promoting these stoves; around 9,500 stoves are in use.
Communication Hubs and Networking: CEDAC is a key coordinator and partner in the promotion of sustainable agriculture in Cambodia. For example,
Network of Eco-agriculture Development in Cambodia
was set up in 2004 as a CEDAC initiative. This network is now highly proactive in supporting farmers. Another important network is Prolinnova (Promoting Local Innovation: www.prolinnova.net/Cambodia) which in 2006 has 20 participating organizations and agencies (NGOs, government organizations, educational institutions, and farmer organizations).
Human Resources Development: Since 1997, more than 1,000 development practitioners, students, new graduates, and government officers have participated in training, workshops, seminars, conferences and study tours organized by CEDAC. CEDAC has organized 6 month apprenticeship/internships for 150 new graduates and students since 1998.
Farmer Magazine: Farmers’ good practices in sustainable agriculture are documented and distributed through Kasekor [Farmer Magazine]which has been published by CEDAC since January 1999. 500 copies per month were initially published. Production is now 7,000 copies per month, and the magazine is distributed throughout Cambodia. The Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Environment are private donors for producing this magazine. In addition, CEDAC also produces a booklet series, called Farmer and Nature, to document and disseminate selected practices in sustainable agriculture.
Policy Dialogue: CEDAC has made contributions to national decision-making, e.g., through establishing a National SRI Secretariat.
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