Farmers Want Campaign Promises Kept
An association of Cambodian farmers appealed to officials to keep promises made during the election season to improve the nation's agri
Cambodian farmers called on government officials Wednesdayto keep to their election campaign promises to improve agriculture, as atwo-day meeting among regional representatives wrapped up. The farmers said they were promised increasedirrigation, more technical training and fertilizer and seeds, but weredisappointed by the sector’s meager portion of thenational budget. “The budget for agriculture is so small compared to thebudgets of other sectors, like defense, when in fact 80 percent of thepopulation are in agriculture,” Farmers and Nature Net, a national farmers’association, said in a statement. The government should prevent imports of agriculturalproducts that local farmers can grow, and Asean members should to exchangeagricultural products on an equal balance, the farmers said. The group alsocalled on the government to provide low-interest loans to farmers to help themdevelop the sector. The farmers made their appeal at the end of a two-dayseminar of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development,held in Phnom Penh. The association hopes to propose to Asean leaders fundingfor developing regional agriculture, said AFA Secretary-General Esther Penunia. “In December in Thailand, we know there will be asummit of Asean leaders,” she said, referring to the 14 AseanSummit, scheduled for mid-December in Chiang Mai. “We are planning to hold adialogue with some Asean agriculture officials for an initial presentation ofthis recommendation. The recommendation includes the establishment within Aseanof an agriculture development fund, establishment within Asean of a services counciland Asean regional policies.” Cambodiahas some competitiveness in free trade, much of it rubber, as well as rice. Cambodiais also importing rice and “surprisingly” cigarettes, said Riza Bernabe, an AFAresearcher.