Press Release: Launching of RiceTechCambodia - The Organic Rice Sector in Cambodia

Press Release in Khmer

Partners consisting of SanoRice, Amru Rice, Oxfam, Development and Partnership in Action, Larive International and the Provincial Department of Agriculture of Mondulkiri organize a signing ceremony and a launching of a new five-year project called RiceTechCambodia on 25 September 2019 at Raffle Hotel, Phnom Penh, starting from 1:30PM-5PM. The project was awarded in June 2019 by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Partnership Facility commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The event will be opened by H.E. Chan Somaly, Deputy Secretary General of the National Council for Sustainable Development, of the Ministry of Environment, and launched by H.E. Veng Sakhon, Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Participants are ranging from community representative, private sector, I/NGOs, Banks and government stakeholders.

RiceTechCambodia aims to improve the livelihood of small-scale farmers by helping them to have organic rice certified, increase their productivity, enhance their yield and ensure premium price to the market in Europe.

“At Oxfam, we believe that smallholder farmers deserve a fair share of the added value created in agricultural value chains, and this can be achieved through inclusive value chains in which they are empowered partners. This Partnership is built on an inclusive business model that aims to fairly benefit smallholder farmers, private companies, consumers and government alike. We are thankful to our consortium partners for joining in this journey to support smallholder farmers, especially women, in transforming their livelihoods”— Ms Solinn Lim, Country Director of Oxfam in Cambodia.

The project will be implemented in a remote area of Mondulkiri province aiming to reach out to 2400 small-scale rice farmers, 1300 farmers will receive extensive training on organic agriculture and good agricultural practices while getting access to drying, storage and milling facilities, to increase the quality of rice products. As part of this project, we will introduce a pilot project of circular rice-fish farming.

All project activities will directly lead to significant improvement of the livelihoods of local small-scale rice farmers in Mondulkiri and indirectly strengthen the general business climate in Cambodia, contributing to sustainable economic growth.

“SanoRice adds specialized food safety expertise up to the level of baby food. With this expertise we are able to ensuring a safe value chain from the farmer in Mondulkiri via the harbor in Rotterdam to the final consumer. We seek to optimize the supply chain by implementing organic certification and modern track & trace methodologies, using for example new technologies such as Blockchain. The main contribution from SanoRice to this project is a volume and premium price guarantee to the local farmers and provide access to high quality niche markets in Europe.” – Mr Robert Vreeman, Director of SanoRice Holding B.V.

As such, the Partnership has the intention to implement a responsible, sustainable and inclusive rice value chain connecting demand with supply, with smallholder farmers as core stakeholders. By contract farming, we enable farmers to shift to quality-certified organic rice cultivation practices in Mondulkiri, enhance their sustainable farming practices, ensure value-addition to their raw products through facilities for drying, milling and storage, and guarantee them the sales. This is a crucial step towards transforming farmers and their cooperatives as future agripreneurs. This project would realize a positive impact in the lives of these farmers.” – Mr Saran Song, CEO and President of Amru Rice