Enhancing productivity in the Cambodian agricultural system will
require addressing the linked constraints that affect productivity in
all three major components of agricultural value chains: production,
processing, and marketing.
The productivity constraints are well known to Cambodian
policymakers and some progress is being made to address them. They
include limited availability of high-quality seeds, inadequate and poorly
maintained infrastructure (irrigation and rural roads), limited access
to finance, high energy costs, ineffective land-use planning and zoning,
limited export promotion programs and a lack of national branding,
and unsustainable agricultural and natural resource management
practices. There is also a significant lack of farmers’ organizations
and of a regulatory framework for contract farming, and a need for
effective extension services for educating farmers and supporting
farmer operations; improvements in secure land tenure; private sector
investment in agro-processing enterprises; and appropriate standards
for product quality regulation.
All of these constraints are serious. The most critical, though, is
the lack of agro-processing enterprises to link diversified agricultural
production to domestic and export markets