PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): The Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project in Cambodia has won the prestigious International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Gender Award, the project's implementer said in a statement on Friday.
Carried out by the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS) of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries since 2018, the project was among nominated projects from 177 countries and regions across the world.
It was awarded for its strong results-based commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of rural women in agriculture, livelihood improvement, and access to finance in its seven target provinces along the Tonle Sap Basin of Cambodia, the statement said.
Ny Kim San, deputy head of the NCDDS and project manager, received the award in an official event on Feb. 14-15 in Rome, Italy.
"The project has prioritized inclusion of women, particularly those from smallholding farmers and trapped in poverty," Ny Kim San said in the statement.
It has enhanced agricultural productivity, agricultural diversification, and improved access to markets, resulting in better livelihoods and higher incomes in the project areas, he added.
Co-financed by the Cambodian government, the Asian Development Bank, and the IFAD, the 66-million-U.S.-dollar project has driven up women's representation to 60 percent in management committees across its 270 targeted communes, and significantly improved Cambodia's agricultural resources and developed long-term sustainability for its agricultural sector in seven provinces, the statement said.
The project has benefited some 650,000 households, especially smallholder farmers trapped by prolonged poverty, it added.
Running until July 2024, the project covers mainly the provinces along the Tonle Sap Basin, and its targeted provinces include Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Tboung Khmum, and Prey Veng, the statement said. - XInhua
