School gardens a lifeline for hungry Cambodian children

A student waters the vegetables at a school in Siem Reap province. - AFP

SIEM REAP (AFP): Among the spinach crops at a rural Cambodian school garden, children test their maths skills while weighing produce -- but as food prices rise, the vegetable patch has become a safety net for struggling families.

Long before Covid restrictions ravaged the economy, malnutrition and poverty stalked Cambodia's youth -- the legacy of decades of conflict and instability following the Khmer Rouge's genocidal rule in the 1970s.