Eighteen percent of the families in Cambodia have received small loans from the Rural Development Bank, according to figures released recently by the organization at a micro-financing seminar.
Son Khoun Thor, RDB general director, said 70 agencies around the country had loaned nearly $25 million to nearly 350,000 rural families. It is estimated that 75 percent of micro-financing money goes to farmers, 20 percent to small businesses, and 5 percent to processing.
Ing Kuntha Thavy, secretary of state for Women’s Affairs, reminded the audience that at one point shortly after the civil wars, 65 percent of the farmers in the country were women, and 80 percent of those women were farming alone. Micro-financing was crucial to their survival, she said.
Agence France Development has provided at least $6 million, and is working with the Asia Development Bank to try to free another $20 million to loan to rural residents through RDB.
