Agroecology in Action: A Press Tour in Siem Reap and Kampong Thom Sheds Light on Cambodia’s Farming Transition

A press tour held in the provinces of Siem Reap and Kampong Thom from 24 to 26 April 2026 highlighted the agroecological transition underway in Cambodian farming communities.

@Cambodge Mag

Led by the ALiSEA network and the Gret‑NGO project TETARD, this initiative shows how farming systems that respect ecosystems can simultaneously improve farmers’ incomes, food quality, and environmental health.

A field‑based lesson: journalism along the furrow

Nearly thirty journalists crisscrossed this week the rice fields and market gardens of Siem Reap and Kampong Thom provinces, witnessing firsthand a quiet revolution transforming Khmer agriculture from within. Organised jointly by the Cambodia Agroecology Network (ALiSEA), Gret’s TETARD project, and local partners, this three‑day tour deliberately places the media at the heart of the agricultural‑paradigm shift.

“Agroecology is vital for human life and environmental sustainability,” Pat Sovann, a Gret representative, said during field visits. “This holistic approach manages entire ecosystems in line with natural laws and maintains their balance. It goes beyond conventional farming by combining scientific methods with the durable protection of natural resources.”

The stated objective is clear: to make the general public aware of the benefits of agroecology for consumers, producers, and the environment. By turning the fields into teaching spaces, organisers rely on the power of reporting to accelerate social acceptance of practices that are still too rarely adopted across the country.

Four pillars to rebuild Khmer agriculture

Gret experts structured their explanations around four core pillars that now form the backbone of the agroecological transitions observed on the ground.

1. Reducing chemical inputs. The first priority is to minimize, or even eliminate, synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides in favour of compost, manure, and other organic alternatives. This responds to an alarming finding: a 2021 soil‑organic‑carbon mapping carried out jointly by Cambodia’s General Directorate of Agriculture and the FAO showed that 86% of the country’s cultivated land has dangerously low organic‑matter levels, between 0.6 and 1.0%, well below agronomic viability thresholds.

2. Crop diversification. The second lever replaces exhausting monocultures with crop rotations and intercropping, so as to maintain soil fertility and foster natural pest regulation. Research published on the Frontiers in Agronomy portal in February 2026 confirms that cover crops measurably improve soil health and support self‑regulation of pests.

3. Living soil and water management. The third principle treats soil as a living organism and applies water‑saving techniques to prevent pollution and erosion. The example of SRI (System of Rice Intensification) rice, promoted in several provinces, shows how intermittent irrigation can simultaneously increase productivity and reduce methane emissions per unit of output.

4. Climate resilience and autonomy. The fourth axis focuses on building farms that can withstand droughts and floods while reducing dependence on costly external inputs—commercial seeds and chemical products. In a country where provinces such as Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Thom, Pursat, and Prey Veng are among the most exposed to climate‑driven agricultural losses, according to the FAO, this challenge is particularly critical.

Documented gains for the entire food chain

The agroecological transition is not merely an environmentalist stance. It produces measurable and interdependent benefits at every link of the food chain, what specialists now call a “triple victory.”

For consumers, agroecological practices translate into safer, more nutritious food, free from residues of chemical inputs. For farmers, they significantly lower production costs while safeguarding their health. And for the environment, their adoption boosts plant cover and helps reduce greenhouse‑gas emissions—especially important in a country where 39% of national GHG emissions come from agriculture and land‑use sectors.

On‑the‑ground testimony illustrates these results in concrete terms. Farmer Heng Hour, who manages 2.8 hectares in Preah Vihear province, has seen his paddy yields triple—from 1 to 3 tonnes per hectare—after introducing cover crops such as sunnhemp, sorghum, and Sesbania sesban.

“I hesitated to experiment at first, but I told myself I had nothing to lose,” he confides, summing up in one sentence the gradual conviction now driving thousands of Cambodian farmers.

ALiSEA and TETARD: a regional architecture serving local action

The Agroecology Learning Alliance in Southeast Asia (ALiSEA) plays a quiet yet decisive architectural role in this transition. Its Small Grants Fund, endowed with 337,475 euros for the 2022–2024 period, has supported 18 innovative projects in Southeast Asia, 39% of them in Cambodia—the highest regional concentration. These projects have benefited more than 6,000 people, half of them women, including farmers, students, and local‑authority representatives.

The Gret TETARD project fits into this regional dynamic by acting at the territorial scale. It draws in particular on lessons from the ASSET project (Agroecology and Safe Food System Transition), which promotes drought‑resistant varieties, improved soil moisture retention, and diversified income sources as key levers for climate adaptation.

This programme architecture also relies on the Consortium for Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification (CASIC), a formal mechanism coordinating the efforts of government and non‑government actors with support from donors such as IFAD, ACIAR, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the European Union.

A favourable global context, persistent local challenges

The Cambodian tour unfolds against an increasingly supportive international backdrop for agroecology. The Agroecology Coalition, now grouping 48 governments and nearly 250 global organisations—including FAO, civil‑society, and research representatives—adopted a 2024–2030 strategy to accelerate food‑system transformation worldwide. The FAO itself recognises agroecology as one of the foundational principles of a sustainable transformation of food and agricultural systems, aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework, the UNFCCC, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

On the economic side, the global market for sustainable agriculture is growing rapidly, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 11.3%, rising from 13.54 billion dollars in 2023 to nearly 22 billion dollars by 2028. Cambodia, whose agricultural exports seek to position themselves in an increasingly sustainability‑conscious international market, stands to gain considerably from the strengthening of this sector.

Nevertheless, obstacles remain. Pressure for short‑term economic returns, water shortages in high‑altitude cropping zones, and the difficulty of selecting species compatible with existing production systems are real barriers to large‑scale adoption. Researchers agree that the benefits of agroecology fully materialize over the medium and long term, a time horizon that requires sustained financial and technical support for farmers undergoing transition.

Public policies in motion

The Cambodian government is not absent from this dynamic. In June 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) officially approved 15 species of cover crops—a historic decision facilitated by the ASSET project and the Department of Agricultural Land Management. This certification paves the way for private‑sector engagement in the development of an agroecological seed value chain.

More broadly, Cambodia has developed an increasingly ambitious national climate framework, including its Strategic Climate Change Plan 2024–2033, its long‑term carbon‑neutrality strategy by 2050, and its third NDC submitted in 2025. Aligning these commitments with agroecological practices represents both an institutional challenge and an opportunity for climate finance, especially in a context where the FAO has helped 28 countries unlock 70 million dollars of GEF funding in 2024 for sustainable‑agriculture programmes.

More than an agronomic act: a model of society

What emerges from this press tour goes far beyond the simple promotion of a farming technique. The agroecology practised in the plains of Siem Reap or the lands of Kampong Thom affirms itself as a coherent, replicable model of development anchored in local realities. It links traditional knowledge and modern science, farmers’ autonomy and market access, climate resilience and food sovereignty.

In a country where 80% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture accounts for one‑third of GDP, and farming employs 57% of the workforce, the stakes are high. Redirecting production systems toward agroecology means betting on an agriculture that feeds people without exhausting the land—and ultimately amounts to a civilizational choice.