Siem Reap Farmer Community Gets $700,000 Loans

PHNOM PENH – The Khmer-Angkor Agricultural Community in Siem Reap has been granted $700,000 in loans from the Cambodia Agricultural Sector Diversification Project (CASDP) to supply about 135 tonnes of assorted safe vegetables per year.

Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Khim Finan said the grant aims to allocate 40 percent of the investment for 50 net houses and a 5.3km red gravel road in the community.

To help support working capital for modern agricultural communities, the government decided in principle to provide new loans of $35 million to modern agricultural communities between 2025 and 2027.

Finan said the modern agricultural community was created to transform family-owned agriculture into a robust agricultural economic enterprise that can orient production to the market need and is highly competitive.

As of May, 12 modern agriculture communities have been established in addition to the existing 2,601 communities.

New modern agricultural communities have been officially registered in Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Takeo, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Tbong Khmum and Pursat for four strategic crops, rice, vegetables, cashews, and pepper, covering 11,421 hectares and achieving an annual production of $20 million.

Six modern farming communities have received low-interest loans of around 7% per year for a working capital of $1.9 million.

At the same time, the government is aiming to expand the scope of the modern agricultural community in other provinces with crops such as mangoes, rubber and durian.

The World Bank says Cambodian farmers face challenges in commercializing their agricultural output due to lack of knowledge, skills, modern inputs, and processing techniques, as well as road connectivity and irrigation.

The government, with World Bank financial support, has initiated the CASDP to tackle these challenges.