Food Security Situation in Cambodia: A Case Study in Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang

抄録

Cambodian villages, especially the remote and neglected face acute declines in food supplies below minimum survival requirements. The nature of contemporary food insecurity in the country as a whole is much more one of inadequacy of households' access to food rather than food availability, and the key problems of food access are a result of exposure to risks and crises such as drought, floods, and pest and disease infestations; changes in the levels of cash income from household enterprises (productive and financial assets); low productivity and consumption levels; and several other underlying socioeconomic factors, which significantly reduce their ability to cope. This paper summarizes the overall food security situation in rural Cambodia, mainly considering the preliminary research findings in Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang with respect to the provincial and district perspectives, food security matrix ranking, and problem analyses in the four villages studied. The paper also takes into account suggested strategies for policy responses to priority needs of the villagers in effort to improve the food insecurity situations among village households in Cambodia.