The world is experiencing tremendous challenges entering into the 21st century. The enormous growing global population is expected to use more natural resources to achieve economic growth, while imperiling moral social values and degrading the environment. These gargantuan problems cannot be solved overnight. They have to be tackled collectively by all sectors of society, and the consensus is that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is the pathway towards a sustainable future. While there is general consensus that ESD is the way forward, instilling this new educational paradigm into peoples’ minds and hearts is a gigantic task. Higher education institutions, as well as research institutions, together with non-formal education institutions, have important roles to play in this defining human endeavor. In response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD 2005-2014), the United Nations University (UNU), collaborates with UNESCO, the lead UN agency for the UN DESD Implementation, and other UN agencies and international organizations, in spearheading the promotion and development of Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on ESD worldwide. An RCE is a network of existing formal, non-formal and informal education organizations, mobilized to deliver ESD to local and regional communities. An RCE builds an innovative platform for multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary information-sharing, dialogue and collaboration for promoting ESD among regional/local stakeholders, including joint efforts by stakeholders in working for transformative education and research on ESD in all levels of education and knowledge creation. It is important that the lessons learned from these RCE activities are shared globally, through the so-called Global Learning Space on ESD, as they provide inspiration and knowledge to others wanting to make contributions for a sustainable future. This paper provides an overview of sustainability, highlights the concept of RCE as a new form of networking, and provides examples of good practices of RCEs in tackling ESD issues.

Rapid development of agricultural technologies in Greater Phnom Penh has significantly increased agricultural production. The majority of farmers apply agricultural chemicals. Agricultural chemicals released from farmlands to downstream cause various environmental problems. So, the education for sustainable development (ESD) was focused on agricultural sector. Especially, the students in the elementary schools were prioritized as they will become farmers in the future. Forming RCE is expected to increase the opportunity to build the public awareness and perception of the importance of making harmony between farming practices and natural environment. This report deals with the background of RCE Greater Phnom Penh in Cambodia and its challenges. One of the challenges in the RCE is enhancing the food, agriculture and environment education for elementary schools through the organic farming activities at elementary schools and the facilitator training of elementary school teachers under the collaboration among government, university, local NGO and local community.

Lack of knowledge and understanding of farmers about the risk of erosion have contributed to the rapid degradation of watersheds in Indonesia. Research was carried out to identify the topography and extent of land use in the upstream Bengawan Solo watershed to determine interactions between topographic characteristics and land use that could explain the effect of agricultural expansion in hill areas on erosion occurrence. An erosion model was applied to calculate the erosion risks using Geographic Information System (GIS). Slope and land use assessments showed that more than 60% of the soil loss occurred on upland and mixed crop areas under moderate to steep slopes. Field investigation indicated that many farmers used to grow maize and cassava in the hilly areas that are tilled repetitively and mostly left without vegetation cover. Moreover, farmers are not making efforts to use land conservation measures. Thus, these areas need immediate attention for soil and water conservation activities to prevent further land degradation. A land conservation map was created to identify land use features as well as recommended conservation measures which should be applied in order to limit further watershed degradation. Farmer field schools are proposed to increase farmer awareness on the negative effects of soil erosion and the benefits of practicing soil and water conservation.

The study focuses on the analysis of the effects of urban growth and land tenure policies on access to the land and livelihoods of the people. In the process of urbanization, suburbanization, and changes in land tenure status, practical evidence shows that the households’ situation has improved. The problem, however, is whether everybody is benefiting equally. In order to understand the problem, the following questions need to be answered: How do policies impact on the livelihoods of the households? How do people in the community have to change their livelihoods to adapt to the new circumstances. The study employed various participatory research methods, both quantitative and qualitative. Semi-structured interviews, In-depth interviews, Focus-group discussion, Participant observation, and Secondary data were used in the study. The results indicate that the most successful households are those that are characterized by multi-activity and risk-spreading. This is achieved by exploiting rural and urban opportunities simultaneously. The least successful and poorer households are generally those with non-diversified income-earning activities and/or which do not attempt to maximize the utilization of rural and urban resources. It seems that farmers are not well-prepared for the transition from rural to urban living. Lack of skills and formal training prevent them from exploiting opportunities to adjust to rapid changes. Thus, we can now observe a new group of people who have fallen into poverty. Tenure transformation in the suburban areas due to rapid urbanization has created more hardships, in social and economic terms, for the most vulnerable in society. Given the limited availability of land, farmers in the community generally have three means of maintaining and improving their livelihoods. First, they can increase the use of agricultural inputs. Second, they can migrate to areas where agricultural land is available or where non-farm employment offers higher wages. Third, they can establish themselves in a local off-farm occupation. Each of these strategies can be carried out alone or in combination.

The main objectives of the study were to 1) determine the level of the farmers’ awareness of recommended technologies related to rubber tapping and 2) identify the farmers’ perceptions of rubber technologies. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select the sample of 92 rubber smallholders from Dambae, a non traditional rubber region, and Peam Cheang, a traditional rubber region. Data were collected through pocket voting and preference ranking which are the tools of participatory methodology. Friedman’s test and multiple comparisons were used to analyze the data. The study showed that rubber farmers were not well aware of recommended technologies related to rubber tapping, for instance required girth (23%), height of measurement (34%), cup hanging (46%), thickness of tapping (21%) and tapping angle (21%). However, the awareness of tapping panel marking was high (97%). It was discovered that there were significant differences in the participants’ rank ordered preferences for techniques, during immature and mature stages, related to rubber collection works and dissemination media (p<0.001). Establishment of cover crop, land preparation, correct tapping method and latex preservation methods were considered by the rubber smallholders as the most important techniques (p<0.05) that they need the extension officers to address in designing extension activity programs for these regions. Workshop was the most preferred area (p<0.05) of dissemination media through which the rubber farmers need the researchers and extension officers to transfer information and knowledge.

In Thailand, heavy metal contamination of the aquatic ecosystem is of concern because of the effect on water quality and toxicity to aquatic biota. The aim of this study was to develop ecotoxicology test protocols using a standard test organism the midge, Chironomus striatipennis Kieffer for measuring acute and chronic toxicology.. This species is an important indigenous freshwater invertebrate in Thailand. The acute effects of cadmium using cadmium chloride and lead as lead nitrate on midge larvae were investigated by static bioassay under laboratory conditions. The observed mortality data of the acute test for median lethal concentration 48 h LC₅₀ of cadmium chloride on first, second, third and fourth instars of midge larvae were 25.1 (14.6-40.7), 201 (60.1-367), 579 (537-620) and 641 (564-717) mg/L, respectively. The 48 h LC₅₀ of lead on first, second, third and fourth instars of midge larvae were 99.9 (14.7-209), 55.5 (266-897), 1,540 (1,200-1,870) and 3790 (2,890-4,410) mg/L, respectively. The results showed that cadmium chloride and lead nitrate were highly toxic to the first instar larvae followed by second, third, and fourth instar larvae, respectively. Sublethal studies of cadmium and lead on midge showed that both cadmium and lead had effects on the body length of larvae, the development time of larvae, dry weight and the number of female and male adults. The results from this study would be useful for developing a biomonitoring tool for heavy metal contamination assessment in freshwater ecosystem and water quality management in Thailand.

The aims of this paper were to study the influence of land use system type on earthworm distribution in Northeast Thailand. The experimental systems were a natural forest, a eucalyptus plantation and an organic agricultural and a conventional agricultural farming system. The effects of land use systems and their management on the distribution and characteristics of the earthworm, Pheretima sp. on related soil properties were investigated in the rainy season (August-September 2008) and the dry season (December 2008-February 2009) in Baan None Daung Mun, Tumbon Sa-Ead, Amphur Muang, Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand. Earthworm populations varied and there were significant differences between systems (p<0.05). Numbers were highest in the natural forest followed by the organic agricultural system, lower in the conventional agricultural system and lowest in the eucalyptus plantation in the rainy season. The same result was found in the dry season but the organic agricultural system had a higher number of casts than in the natural forest. The same trend was found for earthworm cast height and cast width. The results showed that the earthworm cast width in the eucalyptus plantation was lowest in the rainy season but not significantly different in the dry season between land uses. These results suggest that land use type strongly influences the abundance and characteristics of earthworm casts in the various soil ecosystems. The results of soil analyses showed that the biological soil quality, measured as soil respiration, in soil samples from each land use type were not significantly different (p<0.05) from each other but was highest in the organic agriculture system and lowest in the eucalyptus plantation. The soil respiration in earthworm’s casts was higher than in soil in the rainy season. The results showed that the soil properties of earthworm casts were different in each land use system. Particularly, the increase of % silt and % clay and an associated decrease of % sand was found in the earthworm cast compared with the surrounding soil in every land use system. The results for soil quality showed that the earthworm casts had higher electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and calcium and magnesium concentrations than found in soil especially the level of available phosphorus in casts.

Cheung Ek is an important lake for the livelihood of local communities through different functions, it acts as a wetland area to control flood waters and removes pollutants from Phnom Penh city. However, industrialization, urbanization and uncontrolled human occupation on the bank of the lake has decreased the lake’s surface and caused the lake to become incapable of the evacuation and retention of storm water under the conditions of heavy rain. Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping was undertaken to analyze the lake border, water spinach and water mimosa surfaces and other human activities while other surveys were conducted to understand the method of cultivation and yield estimation of the main aquatic vegetables. The surface area of Cheung Ek Lake in the dry season is 992 ha and more than 50% of the area is occupied by human activities: 429 ha of water spinach; 32 ha of water mimosa; 13.5 ha of dry season rice field; 10-20 ha of fishing activities and around 10 ha of duck raising. In Cheung Ek Lake, water spinach and water mimosa are grown in rows secured by strings between the poles to prevent the crop from floating away. During the dry season, a water spinach cultivator can obtain an average yield of 16-17 tons/ha for a six-month production cycle while a water mimosa producer obtains an average of 15.5-16 tons from a production area of 5000 m² during a five month production cycle. In conclusion, during the dry season, the lake provides from 6864-7293 tons of water spinach and 992-1024 tons of water mimosa for human consumption. However, aquatic vegetable production is also facing many problems particularly with insect damage and disease outbreaks during the production period.

Irrigation is indispensable to guarantee the agricultural production in arid regions like the Tarim Basin. In this region, administrators and farmers have reclaimed waste land such as gravel and sandy desert, and have attempted agricultural development by securing the water resources. But the poor plan has resulted in a conflict between agricultural land reclamation and water resource development this has resulted in an acute shortage of water in this region. Also, this condition has caused ecological damage. In this paper, problems about agricultural water use were discussed in relation to the real conditions of the water resource utilities and farmers activities. Most of the data on water use and management were provided by the Xayar Water Resource Agency. Interviews with representatives of the branch offices of the agency and farmers were conducted between 2003 and 2009. It was shown that water supply volume per unit of the farmland is tending to decrease because of the changed relations between quantities of intake from the river and the cultivated area during the past ten years. It is clear that the water supply from the river has decreased greatly in the region where irrigation by groundwater pumping had been introduced. Water-saving irrigation is being introduced to overcome water shortages and create new water resources. Though it seems water resources can be effectively saved in this way, improper management will limit effective irrigation in farmland where the water saving irrigation was introduced. In particular, consideration needs to be given to the different water management practices among landowners and farmers. It is there are many problems: lack of adequate management systems; lack of training systems for facilities maintenance. These need to be overcome to enable water saving irrigation to be introduced to the entire region.

Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) is a staple food of the Cambodian population and accounts for 68-70 percent of daily calorie intake. Rainfed lowland rice ecosystems are often hampered by drought, submergence and soil problems (Acid Sulphate) that are associated with low productivity and with a high incidence of poverty. A study was conducted to identify the best practices in soil fertility management and conservation on sandy soil for improving rice yield and cost effectiveness of rainfed lowland rice production systems in order to contribute to the improvement of food security and income generation of rural farmers. Three experiments were conducted in rainfed lowland rice agro-ecosystems in Champei commune, Bati district of Takeo province from the middle of 2006 to the middle of 2009: (i) assessment of agro-ecosystem analysis and rice agro-ecosystems, (ii) study on interaction and cost-effectiveness of NPK fertilizers and compost on rice yield in sandy soil in rainfed lowland production systems and (iii) on-farm adaptive research on interaction of NPK fertilizers and compost in sandy soil of rainfed lowland rice ecosystems. The results clearly indicated that the factors and parameters impacting on rice productivity and yield are poor soil fertility (sandy loam soil) and poor soil fertility management. Two options of best practices were identified for improving soil fertility management and rice yield. Firstly, for farmers raising a limited number of cattle (1-2 cattle) and limited access to compost fertilizers should use N₂₅P₁₃K₁₅ or Urea at 44 kg, DAP 25 kg and KCl 25 kg plus 5 tones of compost per hectare. Secondly, for farmers raising more cattle and producing large amounts of compost fertilizer recommendations are the same with 10 tones of compost per hectare.

The development of organic farming is limited in Cambodia because of low literacy rates for farmers in rural areas. In this study, organic rice farming systems were demonstrated to the farmers in Takeo province, Cambodia. As the result of the application, the farmers improved their income through increasing yields, premium prices and reduced expenditure on chemical fertilizers after implementing organic farming techniques. Moreover, all of the farmers adopting organic farming system improved their conditions of health, food quality and the ties of family and community. Nevertheless, these benefits were not completely distributed to all individuals and communities. Very poor and isolated farmers were generally unable to access the benefits. In conclusion, the three main factors for empowering Cambodian farmers to initiate the organic farming system are considered as follows: the individual’s endowment of resources, the strength of the farmer groups and the policies and facilitation of the supporting organizations.

The Northeast is the largest region of Thailand with approximately one third of both the total land area and population of the country. However, the region has the lowest per capita income. This is due to the region’s agricultural systems being dominated by rainfed farming, poor soil quality and fluctuation in market demand and price for the agricultural produce. In general, more than 50% of farm income is earned from the crop sector rather than livestock. In a risky business, farmers have learned to understand their environment which includes physical, biological and socio-economic and site-specific factors. In response to the environment, farmers have adapted their practices and this has been given the name “indigenous agricultural knowledge” to improve crop yield and household income. This paper illustrates the overview of indigenous agricultural knowledge in Northeast Thailand which includes land preparation, pre-germinated seeds, thinning buds, detaching flowers, decreasing leaf area, suppressing weeds, alleviation of insect damage, improving soil quality, post-harvest techniques and multiple cropping. Indigenous agricultural knowledge has not been systematically recorded in written form and therefore is not readily accessible to agricultural researchers. Indigenous agricultural knowledge is an immensely valuable resource that provides farmer-to-farmer training or local technology transfer.

Shinotsu Canal passes through an agricultural area that contains a high pollutant load from catchments. This pollutant load influences the Ishikari River water quality, which consequently affects downstream aquatic biota. This study was conducted to evaluate the influences of agricultural land and water use activities on Shinotsu Canal water quality. The Shinotsu Canal is 25 km long and contains a 10,864 hectare catchment area, which is divided into 10 sub-catchment areas. The proportions of major land uses such as paddy fields, uplands, and forests were categorized by the supervised classification method using satellite data for each sub-catchment area. Water samples were collected manually from 11 points (P1~P11) upstream to downstream from May 2006 to April 2009. The suspended sediment (SS) concentration was analyzed by suction filtration; nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N) was measured by ion-chromatography; and total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) were measured by UV-spectrophotometry. The SS, TN, and TP concentrations were highest during the puddling period (PP), whereas the highest NO₃-N concentration occurred during the snow melting period (SMP). There was a positive significant relationship between accumulated paddy field area (APA) and SS (r = 0.94) and between the accumulated upland area (AUA) and SS (r = 0.96) at <0.001significance level during the PP. The TP concentration was also significant during the SS. TN was highly correlated with APA (r = 0.94, P <0.001) and AUA (r = 0.98, P <0.001) during the SMP. The SS, TN, and TP concentrations were higher downstream (P11) than upstream (P1) at all periods except for TN during the normal irrigation period. We conclude that land and water use for agriculture, seasonal meteorological characteristics, and fertilizer management affect Shinotsu Canal water quality.

Microfinance is widely advocated as a powerful tool to reduce poverty and improve social inclusion. It can assist the poor by reducing their vulnerability and avoiding economic shock. While scale and outreach have been critical indicators of microfinance performance, there has not been much investment in measuring whether clients are satisfied with the microfinance products and services they have been accessing. This article presents findings of a study by Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea (AMK) which is measuring client satisfaction with microfinance product and services. While the overall aim is to access whether clients are satisfied or dissatisfied with microfinance products and services, the study also explores the loan use (in comparison with other competitors). Is microfinance widely accepted by the clients? Do microfinance products provide good coverage at affordable interest rates? Do the delivery mechanisms effectively meet the clients need? These are among the key findings addressed in this study. The study was designed to be qualitative by in-depth interview and gathering information from March to May 2009 covering totally 648 new AMK clients in 18 provinces. The findings provide the clients’ perception of microfinance product and services; in generally clients are satisfied with AMK; more than 85 percent of the clients at least gave one reason for satisfaction feedback. Approximately, 8 percent to 17 percent had at least one negative comment on microfinance product and services. Low interest, providing loan as needed and giving loan at doorstep are crucial aspects of microfinance AMKs’ competitive advantage. The study also reported that the great majority of clients have used at least part of their loans for productive purpose, mostly in farm-related activities (agriculture and livestock). Notably the study gives strong signals for improving product development and service; more than that trying to retain as many clients as possible.

This paper aims to discuss the possibility of increased export of food and agricultural products on the basis of collected data sources and interviewing for the policy makers and to build up the good relationship through Japanese investor to promote agricultural export in Cambodia. Government announced the exportable agricultural products with high potentials such as rice, maize, soybean, mung bean, sesame, peats, cassava, cashew nuts, pepper, rubber, fish products and cattle/buffalos. As far as government announcement is concerned, the direction for export expansion should be put already traded items in terms of amount bases. Even in already traded items, they should be developed with higher added value.

In the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, areas of intensive rice production have been rapidly enlarged. Soil fertility degradation in this system can be one of the most important factors contributing to the yield decline. Information on soil fertility and recommendations on improving soil constraints will provide basic data for proper soil management, land evaluation and land use planning. A Fertility Capability Classification (FCC) system incorporates characteristics of soil morphology, soil physics, and soil chemistry. Data from 300 soil profiles in rice fields and 28 field experiments on fertilizers efficiency were collected, showing that there were 25 rice soil fertility types, in which types CC (clay in top and subsoil) and CCs (clay in top and subsoil and saline effected) occupied in large extent. The major soil constraints for rice cultivation can be listed as follows: low organic carbon content (o); high P fixation and high Fe toxicity potential (i); potential salinity (s^-); low available P (p); high acidity and Al toxicity (a); the separation of actual acid sulfate soils (c, c^-) and potential acid sulfate soils (f, f^-).

There are more than 3 billion world population are directly or indirectly affected with low zinc (Zn) supply to their food causing up to severe health problems, which is also linked to Zn deficiency in most agricultural soils world-wide. Agricultural technologies contribute to improving nutritionally rich food systems, which plays key role in public health. We therefore review in this paper on the importance of agricultural systems and its role in human health under Zn deficient situation. Several studies have been done to understand the Zn dynamics on crop and plants. There have been much more efforts given to see agronomic, physiological and molecular aspects of Zn in plants and soils. It is however, equally important to look at the human consumption perspective for healthy population. Therefore, this review discusses the role of Zn on soil and crop in view of human nutrition. Agricultural strategies could help to combat such problems in many ways such as breeding Zn efficient genotypes, application of different Zn fertilizers, using high Zn content seed for crop production; and seed priming. The content of Zn in grains and fruits can in some cases be increased through soil or foliar applications of Zn fertilizers. Level of Zn in plant foods could be achieved either by increasing the concentration of compounds which promote their uptake like ascorbic acid, or by decreasing the concentration of compounds which inhibit their absorption of Zn like phytic acid or phenolic compounds. Low cost and easy approaches such as seed priming are also effective measures to load higher Zn in edible parts. Plant breeding and genetic engineering techniques have the greatest potential to increase Zn content in grains, roots and tubers to combat the Zn deficiency world-wide.

Actinomycetes are involved in important environmental processes such as the decomposition of organic matter. In this study, we examined the impact of crop rotation on the actinomycetes community colonizing rice straw residues in soil over 3 field seasons by means of Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting analysis of actinomycetes 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified from field-incubated rice straw residues and analysis of actinomycetes 16S rRNA gene clone libraries from selected samples. The studied yearly crop rotation systems were rice-rice-rice (CRS1), rice-rice-baby corn (CRS2), rice-rice-mungbean (CRS3) and baby corn-rice-mungbean (CRS4), applied on different experimental plots of the same field location. Litter bags containing rice stems were inserted into the soil and recollected at different time points for comparison of the structure of the actinomycetes community colonizing the rice straw. The actinomycetes community was significantly different in composition in the baby corn-rice-mungbean rotation system (CRS4) compared to those in the 3 other systems during the growth of the first crop and second crop. In contrast, during the cultivation of the third crop, actinomycetes communities were significantly different in the rice-rice-rice (CRS1) system compared to those in the 3 other systems. The analysis of the 16S rRNA gene libraries constructed from selected samples of rotation systems CRS1 and CRS4 during growth of the first two crops confirmed the DGGE results. The diversity of actinomycetes tended to be highest in the CRS4 system and lowest in the CRS1 system.

Cheung Ek Lake receives 80% of Phnom Penh’s urban wastewater. Since most of the lakes around Phnom Penh are being reclaimed for urban development, surveys were undertaken to analyze the direct-use economic value of Cheung Ek lake in the dry season, which could serve for policy-makers’ future considerations. The direct-use value was assessed by summing total income of all activities performed on the lake. Income was calculated using a bottom-up approach based on a stratified sampling and on in-depth interviews of 192 households using structured questionnaires for each household’s activity. The primary activities are water spinach, water mimosa, and rice cultivation, fishing, and duck raising. Over a six-month period, farmer receive an average profit of 4,168 USD/ha from water mimosa cultivation, 1,553 USD/ha from water spinach cultivation, 512 USD from fishing, 506 USD/ha from dry season rice cultivation, and 157 USD/100 ducks from duck raising. After multiplication by the total area of plants (from remote sensing), and number of household and duck numbers (by direct investigation), the direct-use value was estimated at more than 1 million USD, of which water spinach production contributes 65%, fishing 20%, water mimosa production 13%, duck raising 1%, and dry season rice production 0.7%. The study suggests that almost a thousand of direct-beneficiaries can generate part of their income from agriculture or fishery-related activities performed on the lake. Moreover, the research targeted only one part of direct-use value of the lake and thus largely underestimated the overall value of the lake. Indirect-value components are community health (which can be greatly improved through water purification), and indirect-use value of the lake (e.g. tourism), both of which have major economic implications and which must be taken into account in further research.

This study focused on the contribution of natural resources (fish, wildlife, vegetation, flooded forest, etc) to the livelihoods of communities living in two floating villages located near Kampong Preak fish sanctuary, Krakor district, Pursat Province. The approach was based on a combination of Rapid Rural Assessment (RRA) and economic assessment methods. Data was collected from 60 households. Stratified random sampling was used to interview rich, medium and poor households. Quantitative information was complemented by interviews of key informants and of village chiefs. Analysis focused on i) quantitative data, and ii) perceptions of interviewees about the contribution of natural resources and of the fish sanctuary to their livelihoods. This study showed that the fish catch is an important element of income. The living standards of villagers varied, depending on fish production and aquatic plant collection. Labor, aquaculture, pig farming and wildlife catching were the other sources of income in the two floating villages. During six months of fishing season, rich households can catch up to 8020 kg of fish worth USD 1938 while medium households can catch 1,950 kg of fish (USD 778) and poor households can catch 1,426 kg of fish worth in average USD 422. The fish sanctuary contributed to household consumption and income generation in all households. Fish, snake, water bird, turtle, edible wild plant and fire wood are most important for daily subsistence of poor households. Overall people in rich households derive more benefits from natural resources because they have more capital to invest on fishing equipment and to bribe law enforcers.

The microfinance industry works to balance social and financial benefit, which is viewed as an effective way of helping the poor. The industry, however, faces the challenge to measure the social bottom line, especially the depth of poverty outreach which refers to serving the poorest clients. This paper aims to investigate poverty outreach and analyze the depth of outreach for AMK. It assesses the depth of outreach through two main measures: the Wellbeing Score and Daily Food Expenditure per capita. The analysis is based on both secondary data and primary data from a survey in 2009 with 810 samples [648 clients (504 group clients and 144 individual clients) and 162 non-clients] randomly selected in 18 provinces in Cambodia. The results of AMK’s depth of poverty outreach for group clients based on the Wellbeing Score indicate that AMK reaches more poor and medium level households than in the control group of non-clients, but less better-off clients. For individual clients AMK reaches a larger share of medium households, less poor households and a slightly smaller share of the better-off households than what is found in the general population. The results based on the number of clients spending on food below Food Poverty Line (FPL) confirm that AMK clients are poor with 56% of group clients and 58% of individual clients below FPL. Therefore, we conclude that AMK achieves the social bottom line in term of poverty outreach.

Almost all cattle in Cambodia are produced by small-holder farmers. The cattle are raised in an extensive way for draught power and wealth accumulation purposes. Feed availability is a major challenge for farmers associated with poor management which limits cattle productivity. This study reports a survey which was conducted to describe the cattle feeding and management practices of small-scale farmers in Cambodia. Sixty farmers raising cattle in Kang Meas and Tbong Khmum districts in Kampong Cham Province were randomly selected for an interview in 2008. On average the interviewed farmers raised 4-5 cattle per household. Most of them had cows aged older than 3 years which were mainly kept for breeding. More than 80% of cattle in Kang Meas were crossbred, but about 40% of cattle in Tbong Khmum were local breed. Very few farmers practiced weaning and none timed the date for their cows to calve. However, most of them selected a bull in their village for mating to cows. No artificial insemination was practiced in the village. The majority of farmers vaccinated their cattle to prevent the Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) while very few de-wormed their cattle. Cattle feed was mainly based on grazing in dry and rainy seasons. During the flooding season farmers in both districts relied on cut-and-carry native grasses and crop residues. Lastly, 60-70% of farmers sold cattle while only 10-20% bought cattle during the last year. In conclusion, cattle management by small-holder farmers was assessed as very low in terms of management and feeding. Farmers still raise their cattle in the traditional way with low health care intervention. Better housing of cattle with proper health care and improved feeding systems are recommended to farmers as ways to improve cattle production.

In recent year, many of agricultural and environmental problems occur due to high amounts of agricultural chemical or pesticide applied. The most important step for reducing soil degradation or water pollution is to mitigate nutrient losses from agriculture fields where used to work as non-point sources. For decreasing the amounts of agricultural chemicals, organic fertilizer has been proposed as it may contribute to reduce the expense of agricultural chemicals and to be safe for human health and natural environment. However, it is important to make farmers understand the background of the application of organic fertilizers, such as its benefit or technology, through the demonstration or the training. The studies were conducted to evaluate granular compost application comparing with chemical fertilizer or conventional compost application from viewpoints of reducing soil and nutrient losses under natural rainfall, and of plant growth for 2 cycles of cultivation in agricultural field. The experimental results showed that in the natural rainfall having 14 to 38 mm/hr, the losses of soil, total nitrogen and organic matter from the plot applied granular compost were significantly lower than that from the plot applied chemical fertilizer or conventional compost. Additionally, the results of the 1st cultivation showed that plant length and live weight of the ridge broadcasted granular compost after planting were higher as same as the ridge applied chemical fertilizer. However for the 2nd crop, plant length and live weight of the ridges applied granular compost before or after planting were the highest among all ridges. It means granular compost application is the effective way for decreasing the amounts of soil and nutrient losses from agricultural fields, and for making plants grow efficiently.

Fermented small-sized fish paste is considered to be one of the main food sources for Cambodians, especially for the poor. However, most small-sized fish are used as direct feed for aquaculture or dried for animal feed. This study was conducted in order to identify market channel and trade of fermented small-sized fish paste. Phnom Penh city, Kendal, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, and Siem Reap Provinces were selected as the study areas. The study revealed that there were three main sources of product which should be considered when analyzing total volume of annual production. The total production of the fermented fish paste in 2007-2008 was around 6,659 tons, of which 50.18% was domestically consumed and 49.82% exported to Thailand and Vietnam. Marketing and trading differed according to trading sites, stakeholder characteristics, and fish species containing in the fermented fish paste.

Agricultural management significantly influences soil microbiological properties, such as microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen and respiration rate. Besides soil parameters, microbial diversity is useful for monitoring changes in soil quality to evaluate sustainable agriculture. This study aims to develop and use microbial diversity in rice soil as an indicator of soil quality for sustainable organic rice farming. An experiment was carried out using the existing rice fields (Kao Dawk Mali 105 variety) in Surin Rice Research Center, Thailand. Four plots of rice received different management practices for over 11 years, including (1) conventional farming (CF) with a normal rate of chemical fertilizer applied, (2,3) two plots of organics: one with green manure (GM) and the other with rice straw (RS) and (4) a control plot (CT) without external sources of plant nutrients. Soil microbial communities were determined by cultural and molecular methods such as total plate counts, community level physiological profiling (CLPP) with BIOLOG^TM Ecoplate, and PCR-amplified (16S rDNA) and analysed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Two-way ANOVA of results revealed that total plate counts were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the four different management practices. However, the GM plot (2.3x10⁶ CFU g^-1 of dry soil) and CF plot (1.8x10⁶ CFU g^-1 of dry soil) were not significantly different (P>0.05). Likewise soil management practices influenced the microbial diversity, both in functional and genetic diversity in the rice plots studied. Further a narrow range of Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H_f’) was obtained with values between 2.77 for CT and 3.01 for GM. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) performed using substrate richness (S) from potential substrate utilization patterns as the input data, showed that the GM treatment increased the microbial diversity.

A watershed scale study was conducted to assess the effect of land use change on land and water quality using selected indicators in the Phatthalung watershed, Thailand. The changes in water quality in the study area were assessed by computing a Water Quality Index (WQI) using some important water quality parameters, including pH, suspended solids and plant nutrients. Water quantity was also assessed through estimating soil moisture storage. Land quality was assessed by developing a Land Quality Index (LQI) based on indices of soil resource, land degradation status and water resource. The quality of land from two different areas, i.e. where land use has changed, and where no change has occurred, was assessed using the selected indicators. The computed WQI decreased during the study period. The highest WQI was 97.5 in 1997 and 2003 and the lowest was 80.0 in 2005 and 2006. Suspended solids (SS) was the major factor influencing WQI. Water quantity, in terms of soil moisture storage, showed positive results as the number of months of water surplus increased from one month per year in 1976 to 4 months in 2006. This was due to the decline in paddy field area. For LQI the indices of soil resource and land degradation status were higher, and water resource lower, in areas where land use did not change compared to those where land use did change.

Most countries of Southeast Asia belong to hot-humid climates with high humidity and small diurnal changes in air temperature throughout the year. These conditions are harsh for large livestock ruminants because the conditions prevent evaporative heat loss (panting and sweating). Swamp buffaloes are distributed widely throughout this climatic zone as a large livestock ruminant, and traditionally provide power to plough farm fields. Buffaloes are also valuable for small farmers as these animals show a good digestibility to low quality roughage. For animal production in hot-humid climates, crossbred cattle have been exploited as an efficient tool for blending the adaptability of tropical cattle accompanying with high sweating rate. But effective heat dissipation is still a major problem in this area. Buffaloes easily sustain heat stress under solar radiation as compared to tropical cattle, but they quickly recover after moving into shade or spraying with water. Therefore these adapted animals must have an effective physiological system for heat dissipation under hot-humid conditions. Several comparative experiments have been conducted comparing thermo-regulatory responses between swamp buffaloes and cattle. Hormone and blood parameters were also compared between the two species in terms of blood volume and distribution in the body. The results show active heat transport through blood flow and water turnover in buffaloes as compared to temperate or tropical cattle. In hot-humid climates, there is usually high water availability with a large amount of precipitation. Therefore the effective heat dissipation in buffaloes may be developed through water utilization rather than evaporative heat loss. The observed physiological system suggests that the adapted heat dissipation is combined with behavioral heat dissipations such as wallowing.

On 1st of July 2009, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen signed the "Declaration of the Royal Government on Land Policy". According to this document emphasis should be given to State reform, land law, and environmental law with their impacts on the use of non-renewable resources (land, water, and soil). The implementation of the Cambodian social land policy should start with the need to ensure access to land and to sustain rural development and environment for a modern, prosperous Cambodia. The legal framework for sustainable rural development and land policy includes the Constitution from 1993, and the Land Law from 2001, and Sub-Decrees. Land policy can be interpreted as a central element of property policy. Property is protected under the Constitution and the Land Law from 2001. State public property must be interpreted as the property of all Cambodian people, or as social land policy, that serves the purposes of humans living in the country as a public interest, particularly in rural areas. With a land use planning system the Cambodian planning authorities are able to guide and to restrict the use of land property to foster sustainable rural development. Social land policy needs a broader basis in Cambodia than at present State public property with the guarantee for private use, e.g. through land leasing and concessions, is absolutely sufficient, efficient and effective. Social land policy is an interdisciplinary approach of good governance, land and constitutional law, land economy, spatial planning, and gender issues. This policy can also be a state-driven concept for rural areas in other (developing) countries. It must be legally classified as a public interest so that the eternal ground rent, as the economic gain of the land use, is appropriated and then distributed to all Cambodians in equal shares.

Manure fermented insufficiently includes pathogen such as E.coli threatens the environment and human health. Thus, a proper management of the excrement is an important issue. In addition, E.coli can be easily transported by surface runoff or percolation from farmland where manure had been applied. So, the loss of E.coli from farmlands and its survival limit in manure are big concern from the viewpoints of environmental conservation. Model experiments were conducted under artificial rainfall simulator to investigate E.coli loss. Slope plots were filled with soil and then applied 3 types of manure; fresh cow dung, manures fermented for 14 days and 60 days. It was proven that E.coli losses occurred even from the manure which was fermented for 60 days. In addition, to acquire a proper treatment of manures, the experiments were conducted to investigate the survival limit of E.coli in the manure. It was observed that E.coli vanished at the temperature higher than 60 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the reduction of water content was not enough to eliminate E.coli. So, it became clear that controlling temperature of manure is important for vanishing E.coli existing in manures.

An illustrated children’s book “Jorani and the Green Vegetable Bugs” has been published in Khmer language to teach children and teachers in rural areas about integrated pest management (IPM) in upland crops and the positive impacts on the environment and human health in Cambodia. The project involves introducing the Jorani Project to school directors and teachers; development of a teacher guide; implementation in schools; and celebration and public launch. Further books in the series are planned to teach the benefits of other sustainable land management practices. The project targets five primary schools in northwestern Cambodia in the district of Samlout in Battambang Province where the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) is working to strengthen primary education for all school-aged boys and girls. The potential to achieve the stated agricultural extension and primary education objectives will be evaluated after completion of the pilot project. Social network analysis will be used to test the effectiveness of the proposed learning environment model. Depending on the findings, a Life Skills framework for rural primary schools will presented to the MoEYS for endorsement and roll-out to primary schools in other Districts and Provinces in Cambodia.

Rural development has been a buzzword in recent years among international development professionals. Numerous programs and policies have been implemented worldwide to bring about positive development in rural areas. Consistent with such efforts, we have introduced a series of projects to promote sustainable livelihoods in the village of Hamsapur, Nepal, such as developing a system to supply clean drinking water, a storage system for potatoes, and a computer lab to improve education quality. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the need for building human capacity to sustain benefits from development projects. Qualitative data derived from observation and key informant interviews were used to assess impacts. Findings indicate that these projects did not meet our expectations of improving livelihoods in a sustainable way. Some changes resulting from the projects did not last long, and others could not be continued after external support was withdrawn. The main reason for lack of long-term sustainability was the lack of local capacity, specifically, a lack of knowledge and skills by locals that are critical to planning and implementing development projects and associated activities. The beneficiaries were unable to maintain the projects locally.

Reductions in poverty and improvements in food security are important issues for farmers and agricultural regions in Cambodia. In this paper we relate our approach and experience working in upland areas of Battambang Province to improve agricultural, environmental and social outcomes for farm families and villagers. Small farm sizes and observed low levels of agricultural productivity exacerbate poverty and food insecurity. We have approached this challenge by first investigating and demonstrating new agricultural methods (or technologies) in a farming systems context, through developing a network of farm trials and demonstrations. To this is added activity in contextual economic and social assessment of new versus old farming methods and management, with the objective of farmer adoption of improved methods and associated increases in farm family incomes. We have formed Crop Profit Groups of local farmers to assess the economic costs and benefits of changed management in the main cash crops of maize and soybean. We have also investigated marketing and value-chain issues since these affect upland farmers in important ways. Our approach has been to bring expertise to each situation and adopt a co-learning approach with local farmers, government officials and NGOs. Education and capacity-building of Cambodian collaborators has been an important part of the work. While our work is not yet finished we have found a genuine willingness by the Cambodian farmers to consider new ‘ways of doing things’ and be involved in assessing their own incentives to change. A variety of approaches are used in training and capacity building of the local researchers and officials. There seem to be substantial economic incentives to change some farming practices, but issues of farm input supply availability, markets and prices received for farm produce, transport costs and infrastructure appear to constrain improved farm and regional outcomes.