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Oxfam in Cambodia

Oxfam has been promoting a System of Rice Intensification (SRI) system to help Cambodia rice farmers increase their yields. Photo: Patrick Brown/Oxfam America

What we're doing

We've been working to change lives here for over three decades, teaming up with local partners, community groups and the government. Since we're experts in providing clean water and sanitation facilities - and because poor sanitation causes 6,000 deaths a year in Cambodia - we are always working to improve people's awareness of hygiene issues, in addition to delivering practical support for healthy living.

Our work in Cambodia also focuses on closing the increasing gap between rich and poor. There are several ways in which we do this, including supporting people to earn a fair living and making sure that vital resources and opportunities can be accessed by everybody. Put simply, we're working towards a healthier future for all.

Full details of what Oxfam is doing in Cambodia (PDF, 185KB)

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Related reports and papers




In 2010-11 Oxfam helped:

200,000
people in
Cambodia

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Oxfam's projects in countries like Cambodia rely on your generosity.

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Snapshot of Oxfam in Cambodia

Photo 1/10 photo by: Jim Holmes

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in south-east Asia with around two thirds of the population relying on the land to make a living. Oxfam has been working with rice farmers like Yorn Yee and Neang Veach (pictured) to help develop new and more efficient farming techniques. “At first I didn’t believe that a single stem can split into so many shoots. The result is astonishing! We made enough profit to pay off our debt.”

  • Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in south-east Asia with around two thirds of the population relying on the land to make a living. Oxfam has been working with rice farmers like Yorn Yee and Neang Veach (pictured) to help develop new and more efficient farming techniques. “At first I didn’t believe that a single stem can split into so many shoots. The result is astonishing! We made enough profit to pay off our debt.”
  • We also provide support to farmers’ co-operatives to help ensure they earn the best possible price for their produce. Here, Ngoun Veek checks the scales as rice is measured for purchase at the Rice Co-operative in Takom village. With the help of these new, accurate, scales, farmers know exactly how much they rice they can’t be taken advantage of by middlemen.
  • Because levels of poverty are often higher among Cambodian women than men, we work closely with women’s associations to provide them with new skills and opportunities. One project includes providing Female Commune Counsellors with mobile phones as a means of communicating quickly with each other and sharing information on market prices and changing weather patterns.
  • We also support special savings groups where members join together to save money as a group and make small loans to each other. These groups effectively act as their own community bank by saving, lending and paying each other interest. Here, Morn Sophea looks on at the pigs she is feeding with the proceeds of a loan from the Oxfam-supported ‘Saving for Change’ group in Tra Paing Thnan village.
  • Ensuring rural communities have access to adequate sanitation and sources of clean water is another important element of our work in Cambodia. We provide communities with clean water and help improve their health and sanitation. Our projects also give women the opportunity to run water selling businesses and take the lead in promoting good hygiene practices.
  • One of the most disaster-prone countries in south-east Asia, Oxfam is on hand to respond to emergencies as and when they happen. We also focus on helping communities adapt to an increasingly unpredictable climate and be better prepared in the event of natural disasters such as flooding or drought. Here, Haing Sak helps dig a pond as part of an Oxfam emergency rehabilitation scheme in Pech Many village.

The impact of our work

 I am healthier because I don't get diarrhoea or vomit now. I go to school more now than before we started using the water filter. My favourite subject at school is literature. I also like to play football. It's easier to play football now because I have better health.


Mao Saroeurn, whose family received an Oxfam water filter