Cambodia

Growing But Unequal

Cambodia has achieved sustained economic growth over the past two decades. Despite substantial progress, socio-economic and gender inequalities persist, hampering access to a nutritious diet. Food security and nutrition face challenges caused by shocks, a rapidly changing food environment and inefficiencies in the food system.
WFP/Cesar Lopez

Rural and Climate Shocked

Seventy-nine percent of the Cambodian population lives in rural areas and they are on the front-line of a changing climate. Floods and droughts frequently threaten the food system and will increase in frequency and intensity in the future. Cambodia is currently ranked the eighth most vulnerable country to natural disasters, so supporting communities to prepare for and respond to disasters is key to ensure they can access nutritious foods year-round.

But 1979, we’ve supported Cambodian families to meet their emergency needs and enhance the long-term food and nutrition security of vulnerable households and communities.

We work with the Government of Cambodia to strengthen capacities and systems that can be fully nationally owned. Our goal is that all Cambodians can meet their nutrition needs and the country can reach SDG2 – a world with Zero Hunger by 2030.

WFP/Ratanak Leng
Make a difference in Cambodia

Hunger Stats

Undernutrition is widespread in Cambodia for many reasons: children are not eating enough food, and what they do eat doesn’t contain the nutrients they need to grow and develop. Dietary deficiencies in zinc, iodine and B-vitamins also widely affect women of reproductive age and children. Undernutrition is estimated to cost the country approximately 1.7 percent of its annual GDP.

WFP’S Work in Cambodia

We’re making sure Cambodian families have access to nutritious, safe and diverse foods, with a shift towards strengthening national capacity to improve food security and resilience, and effectively mitigate and respond to environmental shocks.
Cambodia, Preah Vihear province. 11 December 2017. The Kingdom of Cambodia in Southeast Asia saw the effects of brutal conflict and civil unrest which afflicted the country from 1975 to 1991. This caused the deaths of up to three million people and paused economic development. When it was over, the country had to start from scratch. Primary school completion and secondary school enrolment rates in the country are low. To support universal access to education, WFP has been providing nutritious school meals to Cambodian pre- and primary school children in rural and food- insecure communities since 2008. We also run programmes offering take-home cash or rice in exchange for at least 80 percent school attendance. To help diversify diets and educate future generations about nutrition, we are establishing school gardens and shifting to Home Grown School Feeding, which allows local smallholder farmers to sell their produce to nearby schools. In the Photo: A boy eats lunch at Tbaeng school of rice and vegetable soup. The cooks arrive at school early in the morning to prepare meals for 300 students. Photo: WFP/Ratanak Leng
School Meals
We work with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the National Social Protection Council to promote access to quality education, nutritious diets and social assistance for children at pre-primary and primary school. The school meals program will transition to a nationally owned home-grown school meals model that sources ingredients from local farmers, incorporates food quality and safety, encourages community ownership, and supports local economies.
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woman holding cucumbers
Sustainable & Resilient Food Systems
We also work closely with the Government to create climate-smart plans that will help communities become more resilient to climate shocks. Working with partners like the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, we leverage our experience in data management platforms to facilitate the flow of information on agriculture, markets and climate services to end users at subnational level.
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Emergency Prep & Response
We work closely with partners to strengthen national capacities and develop tools to improve preparedness for weather extremes. We also provide emergency assistance and early recovery supports to vulnerable households affected by natural disasters, while contributing to develop and operationalize the national shock responsive social protection framework to enable the Government to respond to multilevel shocks in a timely and efficient way.
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Cambodia , Bakan District, Pursat province, 28 October 2020 In the photo: People receive the food packages distributed in response to the recent floods in, Pursat Province. Photo: © WFP/Cesar Lopez The continuous heavy rainfall has triggered floods and landslides in at least 14 of the country’s 25 provinces, including the capital Phnom Penh. As of today, at least 38 lives have been lost, while about 200,000 households and 329,754 hectares of rice and other crops have been affected. The World Food Programme, in partnership with the National Committee for Disaster Management and support from USAID, will distribute food to 2,560 households worst-affected by flood in the Pursat province starting Wednesday, 28 October. Each household in three districts of Pursat province, namely the Pursat town, Bakan district and Kravanh district, will receive a ration consisting of 50 kg of rice and canned fish. These households that have been selected were identified through the results of the rapid multi-sectoral assessment conducted by the Humanitarian Response Forum composing of more than 35 UN agencies and INGOs and NCDM, and the field assessment conducted by WFP.
Supply Chains
We team up with the Green Trade Company and the Ministry of Commerce to explore on-demand supply chain services for partners (including storage services, warehouse management, transportation, handling, and clearance). We also engage with humanitarian and development partners to identify supply chain gaps and strategies. And we maintain warehouse spaces, services and transport capacities so they’re ready to support any emergency response.
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