Civil society groups and agriculture experts have said that while Cambodia’s food security was not severely impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis, they believe that the contagion should be a wake-up call to strengthen domestic agricultural production and processing capabilities.
As the number of COVID-19 cases started to rise in Cambodia and its two neighbors, Vietnam and Thailand decided to close their borders with the country in late March to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. At the time, there was some concern among Cambodians about food availability because a large amount of produce and food products are imported from the two neighbors, especially vegetables and fruits.
Kan Ponharith, a project coordinator of the Voluntary Service Overseas in Cambodia (VSO Cambodia), said the border closure did cause some initial panic among Cambodian citizens, as well as a spike in prices.
