The 4th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Summit was held here at the Cambodiana Hotel on Feb. 27-28 to support sustainable agriculture production and to expand and build a brand of the Cambodian rice market.
Under the theme “Regenerative Agriculture Practices Towards Low Carbon Farming,” the two-day summit was co-organised by the Cambodian Agriculture Cooperative Corporation Plc. (CACC), Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) and Grow Asia.
The summit was presided over by H.E. Dr. Yang Saing Koma, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, with the participation of H.E. Dr. Mey Kalyan, a Senior Adviser at the Supreme National Economic Council and Chairman of the CACC’s Board, Mr. Chan Sokheang, President of CRF, and representatives of partnered organisations.
“It aims to pave the way towards sustainable and inclusive agriculture and climate-friendly agriculture and livelihood enhancement for smallholder farmers,” read a press release issued on Feb. 29.
H.E. Dr. Yang Saing Koma said that the collaboration of all stakeholders for the sustainable agriculture can provide a good example in the implementation of partnerships in the agricultural value chain, including producers, banks and microfinance institutions, rice mills, private sector, developmental partners and the government with a common goal to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for rural farmers.
“This reflects that all stakeholders are contributing to the implementation of government policies, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The ministry has provided full cooperation and support to strengthen the partnership model with all stakeholders to benefit the farmers,” he said.
For his part, Mr. Chan Sokheang said that the summit not only provides practical knowledge on Sustainable Rice Standard Programme, Regenerative Rice Farming Standard, Organic Rice Standard, but also a programme that enables all stakeholders to build better relationships and share knowledge and access to new information on digital agriculture technologies, credits and new agricultural initiatives.
“The programme also helps show the world that Cambodian agriculture is on the path to international standards contributing to saving the earth, as well as a mechanism for expanding and building a brand of the Cambodian rice market,” he added.
Ms. Sophoan Phean, National Director of Oxfam, said it was great to see CACC and all relevant stakeholders launch this ambitious agenda. “We need to mobilise the support across the sector to deliver real progress in the race to low carbon emissions. We need to support each other and demonstrate our leadership to promote the adoption of RA and ensure better soil health and the reduction of CO2 footprint in agriculture sector,” she continued.
The event gathered approximately 350 participants, most of whom are leaders of Agriculture Cooperative, representatives from private sector, governments, banks and microfinance institutions, development partners, donors and researchers. The annual meeting has already been held three times on different topics.
