[en] Agricultural development models are the focus of intense debate in the Cambodian
policy-making arenas. A model inspired by the ‘Green Revolution’, which promotes
industrialization of rice cropping systems and is mainly dependent on external inputs,
is usually contrasted with multi-purpose farming (MPF) in which rice cropping is integrated
with other production to maximize their interactions and complementarities. The
purpose of this research is to present some economic arguments based on the
experience in promoting MPF of CEDAC (Centre d’Etude et de Dévelopement Agricole
Cambodgien, also known as the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in
Agriculture).
We develop a comparative analysis between conventional rice cropping systems
and MPF to analyze the production economics and the overall patterns of household
labor diversification. Focusing primarily on rainy-season rice production, we attribute
significant advantage to MPF against non-MPF practices. These differences are
perceptible in higher rice yield, lower cash-paid costs, and higher value-added
per hectare. However, these differences become less significant when multi-purpose
farming is only partially implemented, i.e. if some elements of the system are missing.
MPF provides employment opportunities that represent a reliable alternative to job
migration. Under MPF, family labor is used more on-farm than is the case with non-
MPF farms and is more homogenously distributed throughout the year.
However, we identify barriers that curb the scaling-up of this innovation, which include
limited access to information, anticipated lack of labor, lack of capacity or technical
skills, lack of up-front capital to make the initial investment in land conversion to MPF,
and land plot sizes that are too small to be converted to this model. We also discuss
the opportunities to create markets for products of differentiated quality produced
under multi-purpose farming.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Tong, Chantheang
Diepart, Jean-Christophe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Sciences agronomiques > Economie et développement rural
Language :
English
Title :
The contribution of multi-purpose farming to the food security of small-scale farmers: An agro-economic analysis in the lowland Mekong alluvial plain
Publication date :
2015
Main work title :
Learning for resilience: Insights from Cambodia’s rural communities
Editor :
Diepart, Jean-Christophe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Modélisation et développement