ADB loans for Cambodian rice sector

ADB Southeast Asia natural resources and agriculture economist Bui Minh Giap said, “Helping Cambodian farmers boost the quantity and quality of paddy will help boost rice exports, improve access to regional and international rice markets, enhance national and household food security and improve incomes of participants along the rice value chain. Our climate change adaptation measures will allow the sector to cope more effectively with an increasing number of extreme weather events.”

Cambodia has plans to become a major rice exporter but there are legal and regulatory hurdles to commercial production. ADB’s Climate-Resilient Rice Commercialisation Sector Development Program, which will run through to 2019, will help address regulatory obstacles, improve rice value chain infrastructure and support services, while protecting agricultural land and raising its productivity.

The project loan will be channelled to the provinces of Battambang, Kampong Thom and Prey Veng, the largest rice producing provinces in the country.

Funds will also be utilised for legal and regulatory reforms to promote local seed production and distribution, strengthen agricultural land management, improve capacity of farmers’ organisations, promote contract farming and encourage domestic trading and export of milled rice.

In addition to the ADB’s loans, ADB will also administer loans and grants of US$9.5mn from the ADB’s Strategic Climate Fund and a US$14.6mn grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. The government of Cambodia will supply US$8.3mn for a total program investment cost of US$87.4mn.