Status of Cassava Production and Distribution Channels in Cambodia: Prospects for Sustainable Production

Abstract

Cassava is expected to become a major industrial crop in Cambodia, but most studies on its cultivation only discuss the potential for improving its production scale, productivity, and suitable cultivation techniques, including ways to protect the crop from diseases and pests. However, sustainability of its cultivation as the country’s main industrial crop cannot be achieved only by introducing agronomically suitable cultivation methods. The cultivation must be economically viable, socially beneficial, and environmentally sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the characteristics of cassava cultivators and their business activities, the current distribution channel and the challenges and prospects for sustainable cassava cultivation in Cambodia. Semi-structured interviews of 24 cassava cultivators were conducted in two major cassava-growing provinces in Cambodia-Battambang and Pailin-to understand the series of production events, including the way they sell their produce. In addition, owners of six consolidating points that collect and process cassava root to sell domestically or for export were interviewed about their sales partners and destinations to identify the distribution channel. As a result, three different distribution types, from producers to collecting points, were identified, and their selection criteria appeared to be the distance between the producers and the collection points. The direct and indirect destination of the produce from the collecting points was identified as Thailand. The identified distribution channel, including collection points, comprised only cassava cultivators and exporters to Thailand, and no production specialization was observed. This reveals that building an efficient and viable distribution mechanism and strategy by utilizing the existing system will be one of the most important challenges in making cassava cultivation a major industrial crop and thus expanding the revenue source for the country.