The 1-day national workshop on National Soil Information and Land Suitability Evaluation System for Cambodia was held on 6 March 2019 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in order to disseminate results, lessons learnt and experience in building the National Soil Information and Land Suitability Evaluation System for Cambodia, and promote knowledge exchange and experience sharing among stakeholders and key national experts working in the sector.

Jointly organized by the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) of Cambodia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), it hosted 60 participants.

The workshop successfully achieved its main objectives:

• Understanding the current status of soil information system in Cambodia and future planning;
• Showing key results of the project “National Soil Information and Land Suitability Evaluation System for Cambodia” and other ongoing initiatives in the country;
• Seeking inputs from stakeholders to the draft proposal on National Soil Information and Agricultural Land Use Zoning in Cambodia.

Among the participants to the training there were representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia, the Economic Land Concessions ELC and Open Development Cambodia, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), World Bank, USAID, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain program (CAVAC) and International Rice Research Institute of Cambodia (IRRI), the University of Battambang and Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).

Background

The Technical Cooperation Programme Project (TCP) on “National Soil Information and Land Suitability Evaluation System for Cambodia” was developed to build national capacity for the creation of a National Soil Information and Land Suitability Evaluation System for Cambodia (CASIS). In particular, the project has supported the design and implementation of the necessary information technology infrastructure through the provision of a series of trainings on digital soil mapping, soil database design and management, data harmonization, land suitability evaluation and information delivery to multiple stakeholders. As a result, several maps were produced including the Cambodia’s Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) map, which was submitted to the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) as a contribution to the Global Soil Organic Carbon (GSOCmap).

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