The pattern of risks faced by the poor and vulnerable in rural areas of
Cambodia, as a consequence of natural disaster, is posing an increasing threat to
their livelihoods. One third of the past three years has been taken up either with
flooding or with drought, and the drought periods were more prolonged than the
floods. The damage caused by flood and drought was comparable, although the
flood of 2011 was the most extensive of the disasters. This paper presents impacts
of disasters on household welfare and the linking of social protection interventions
to address the entitlement failure of poor and vulnerable people suffering from the
impacts of flood and drought. There is a strong need at the policy level to design
social protection interventions to emphasize ex-ante instruments rather than the ex
post response to natural disasters as focusing on emergency assistance and relief.
Cash transfers programs provide direct assistance in the form of cash to the poor.
Ex-ante cash transfer programs can play a crucial role in encouraging poor
households to invest in business rather than spending on food. Microfinance
schemes can also help ex-ante income diversification that can bolster households
against widespread natural disasters.