Farmers from several Cambodian provinces are calling on the government to adopt a clear and consistent policy to ensure stable rice prices and promote sustainable agricultural development.
Speaking to The Cambodia Daily on condition of anonymity, farmers from Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom said the government’s recent move to allocate funds for purchasing rice when prices drop is only a temporary fix. They argue that such short-term measures fail to address the deeper structural problems facing the agricultural sector.
Some farmers expressed frustration that after more than four decades in power, the government still lacks a long-term strategy to protect farm incomes. They questioned how Cambodia could achieve its ambition of becoming a high-income nation by 2050 when many farmers continue to lose money each year.
Sources criticized the government for failing to develop local production capacity for agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and seed varieties. They also pointed out that irrigation remains inadequate, leaving farmers dependent on unpredictable weather despite the country’s access to the Tonle Sap Lake, one of the largest freshwater bodies in Southeast Asia.
“Cambodia has rich soil and abundant water, but we still rely heavily on imports from neighboring countries for almost everything related to farming,” one farmer said. “That makes our production costs high and profits low.”
On November 8, 2025, the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) announced that the Cambodian government had approved an additional 40 million US dollars in funding under a special financing program. The money is intended to help rice millers purchase paddy from farmers during the 2025–2026 harvest season to stabilize market prices.
According to the ARDB, the funds will serve as revolving credit for rice millers working with the bank and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to buy rice from farmers at fair market rates.
In January 2023, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party introduced a policy to deploy agricultural experts to every commune across the country, aiming to strengthen the sector and improve farming techniques.
However, nearly two years later, little has changed. Farmers say rice prices continue to fall, production costs remain high, and irrigation systems still rely heavily on natural rainfall.
Civil society groups report that about 79 percent of Cambodians depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Nearly two million farming households continue to face shortages of quality seeds each planting season, and roughly 30 percent of these families rely entirely on agriculture to cover their daily living expenses.
For many rural families, the hope for a stable farming future remains tied to whether the government can turn short-term relief measures into lasting agricultural reform.
