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Cambodia
Table of Contents
CIDA-funded projects in Cambodia
CIDA disbursements in Cambodia: 2010-2011
| Aid channels |
Amount in $M
|
|---|---|
| Bilateral | |
 Geographic |
11.16 |
 Partnerships with Canadians |
2.58 |
 Other |
1.58 |
 Multilateral |
8.65 |
| Total | 23.97 |
Overview
Cambodia is recovering from almost three decades of war, civil conflict, and economic stagnation. After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge Regime, the country was left with few functioning institutions, government records, or educated citizens. Today, Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with an elected government. The country has achieved significant development progress since the 1990s by effectively transitioning towards a multi-party democracy, by considerably reducing poverty among Cambodians, and by moving towards a market-oriented economic model.
Steady government reforms and export-led private sector development have made Cambodia a strong economic performer, averaging nearly 10 percent GDP growth between 1998 and 2008. Having weathered the global economic downturn, the Cambodian economy achieved a robust annual growth rate of 7.1 percent in 2011, thanks largely to expanded agricultural production and tourism. In terms of private investment, in 2012 Cambodia moved up five places in the Doing Business Index, ranking 133rd out of 185 countries—right behind India.
The World Bank estimates that Cambodia has achieved the critical Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2010. However, one out of four Cambodians still lives on less than $1.25 a day, and the majority of them live in rural areas. Although Cambodia's progress in achieving other MDGs related to health and education is solid, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in southeast Asia and only ranks 139th out of 187 countries on the United Nations' 2011 Human Development Index.
Cambodians' nutritional standards are particularly low. In fact, nearly 40 percent of Cambodian children remain chronically malnourished and micronutrient-deficient. Cambodia also continues to face environmental challenges related to the effective management of the country's natural resources, as well as serious governance issues, including corruption and allegations of restrictions on dissenting voices and opposition parties.
Cambodia's economy is still based on agriculture and it is in need of increased diversification, efficiency, and competitiveness. The fact that Cambodia continues to import most of its food from neighbouring countries has negatively impacted the country's balance of trade over the years. Improving agricultural productivity has been extremely difficult since all forms of private ownership and land titles were destroyed during the war and to this day, Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. An estimated four to six million landmines and other unexploded ordnances remain in Cambodia and affect more than half of the country. In total, some 649 square kilometers of the country still need to be cleared of explosives.
Thematic Focus
CIDA's programming in Cambodia is closely aligned with Cambodia's National Strategic Development Plan Update 2009-2013 which focuses on promoting good governance and creating an enabling environment for sustainable economic growth, including expanding private sector development, agricultural productivity, land reform, and mine clearance.
The goal of CIDA's Country Program in Cambodia is to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth and increased food security.
Economic growth
CIDA focuses on helping the rural poor to clear their land of deadly land mines so it can be used for agriculture. CIDA is also helping the rural poor gain legal access to land titles using efficient, transparent and participatory community methods. CIDA has been a major donor in land administration in Cambodia and has played an active role in the Land Management Working Group.
Food security
CIDA has focused on supporting small-scale agriculture through the creation of rural cooperatives, improved agricultural extension services for farmers, and increased farmers' and traders' access to market information. In recent years, and as part of Canada's global Food Aid Convention Commitment, CIDA has also enabled extremely vulnerable Cambodians to meet their basic food needs and to better adapt to natural disasters through a combination of Food for Education, Food for Work, and Food Assistance programs. Together, CIDA-supported food security efforts have helped increase both agricultural productivity and the amount of safe and nutritious food available to the rural poor in Cambodia.
Progress on Aid Effectiveness
The Royal Government of Cambodia adheres to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PDF, 317 KB, 23 pages) and the Busan Partnership For Effective Development Cooperation. With the support of donors like CIDA, the Cambodian Government is increasingly supporting programmatic approaches, as well as the use of national government systems for service delivery. In recent years, the government has considerably improved its transparency and accountability in results reporting through the development of joint development monitoring indicators and the establishment of a publicly accessible international cooperation data base.
Achievements 2011-2012
Economic growth
- 108,000 systematic land titles were distributed in 2011. In total, CIDA had helped the Royal Government of Cambodia issue nearly 2 million land titles by 2012. The average cost for issuing a title in Cambodia today is $10—three times lower than the original estimate based on global experiences.
- 10 square kilometers of land were cleared and as many as 220,000 Cambodians benefited from land demining in 2011. The demining of rural lands has enabled them to be used for either productive agriculture, for schools and health clinics, or for rural road and home construction. Hundreds of lives have been saved thanks to demining activities. Casualties in the three provinces in which the Clearing for Results Project is active have declined from 145 in 2010 down to 98 in 2011—a decrease of 30 percent—well above the annual reduction target of 10 percent.
Food security
- Over 680,000 extremely vulnerable Cambodians were reached through Food for Education, Food for Work and Food Assistance programs in 2011. CIDA's contribution to these programs was estimated at 150,000 daily breakfasts. Through these school meals, girls and boys have a chance to stay in school and eat what is for many of them the main nutritious meal of the day.
Achievements 2010-2011
Economic growth
- Through financial and technical support to eight systematic land registration teams in five provinces, CIDA contributed to the delivery of approximately 73,000 land titles during 2010-2011.
- CIDA contributed to the demining of more than 40.3 square kilometers of land between 2006 and 2011, thereby helping to reduce total human casualties related to landmines and unexploded ordnances from 450 in 2006 and down to 98 in 2011.
Food security
- CIDA funding helped provide agricultural marketing training to farmers which resulted in an average annual revenue increase of $125-130 per farmer, an increase of approximately 20 percent, for farmers that implemented the training. With project support, Agriculture Marketing Offices to improve farmers' understanding of market dynamics and information were established throughout Cambodia's 24 provinces.
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