Ministry highlights EU’s impact on local agriculture sector

21 Aug 2019 2341 | Business & Trade Fairs

In a brief report released yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture said that financial aid from the European Union has had a huge impact on the development of the Cambodian agriculture and fisheries sectors.

Following the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991, the EU became a major development partner that has supported the Kingdom in multiple sectors, the report said.

The agriculture sector alone will benefit from 258 million euros (about $285 million) in aid from 1995 to 2023, according to the report.

The report notes that financial assistance has targeted a myriad of areas, from smallholder livestock production to the economic and social re-launch of provinces in the country’s northwest.

Yesterday, the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia issued a statement announcing the closing ceremony for the ‘Promotion of Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in the Agriculture Sector: Fisheries and Livestock’ programme.

The programme run from 2013 to 2018 with a budget of 20 million euros (about $22 million), the EU said.

It aimed to promote the equitable, inclusive, environmentally responsible and sustainable growth of the fisheries and livestock sectors, according to the EU statement.

During the programme’s six-year lifespan, yearly aquaculture production rose by 160,000 tonnes, with total fish production reaching 600,000 tonnes last year, the EU said.

In the same statement, the EU announced the launch of a new EU-funded project, the ‘Cambodia Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in the Fisheries Sector’ or ‘Capfish’.

The launch will be held at the Ministry of Agriculture today.

The Capfish project has a budget of 112 million euros (about $124 million) and will run from 2019 to 2023.

“This new EU-funded fisheries programme aims to increase food security, improve nutrition and foster further economic development in the country.”

Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon said the Capfish programme is expected to produce satisfactory short-term and long-term results for farmers, the private sector and consumers.