On 15 June 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Cambodia and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) officially launched the FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF), 2019-2023.

Jointly developed by FAO and MAFF, the CPF is a five-year strategic plan that guides FAO’s strategic partnership and support in Cambodia.

FAO has contributed both emergency and technical assistance to Cambodia covering a wide range of areas, from agricultural productivity, diversification, irrigation, animal production and health, fisheries, forestry, natural resource management and climate change adaptation and mitigation, to name a few.

Mr Alexandre Huynh, FAO Representative in Cambodia, emphasized that, “the goal has not changed, but we deepen and broaden our activities and their scale. Our actions aim at ensuring food security and nutrition, for Cambodian people to lead healthy and active lives. We are also promoting consumer protection and food safety, accessibility to new markets, and the development of small-scale agroindustry, securing jobs for smallholder farmers and fishers.”

As a specialized United Nations (UN) agency, FAO continues to contribute to the national development process in Cambodia. This is done through capacity development and the provision of qualified science-based technical advice and policy support, and introducing new thinking and innovations in the country, contributing to more productive and sustainable farming activities, improved food security and income for people, particularly in rural areas.

Based on achievements, lesson-learned, and identified needs to achieve the goals, the current CPF is centered on three outcomes as follows:

1. Enhanced agricultural productivity, diversification and commercialization, and safe and nutrition-sensitive food systems for poverty reduction and food and nutrition security.
2. Equitable and sustainable management of natural resources, and increased capacity to monitor and report climate action.   
3. Reduction of vulnerability, and improved resilience to climate change and shocks at national, community, and household level.

H.E. Dr Hean Vanhan, Secretary of State of the MAFF, who presided over the signature event, expressed his special thanks to FAO for the strong support the agriculture sector in the country.

“The development of the CPF is a fundamental step. Next, we rely on the support of FAO in the implementation of those activities to achieve the set outcomes.”

In response, Alexandre Huynh confirmed that great care was given to craft a CPF that was realistic and implementable. It is also well aligned with the country’s priority policies and plans, as well as global and regional FAO strategic framework.

This joint country strategic plan has been developed through a series of consultations conducted through the coordination structure of the Technical Working Groups (notably Agriculture & Water; Food Security and Nutrition & Social Protection; Fisheries; Forestry), with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and its various line general directorates, administrations and departments, and other line ministries such as the Ministry of Environment (MoE), the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD), the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), the Ministry of Commerce (MoC), the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRAM), the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Planning (MoP), as well as development partners.