Contribution of Forestry to Poverty Alleviation - APFNet

Sector Development Plan 2001-2010,” now updated into the “Financial Sector Strategy 2006-2015” and
the “Public Financial Management Reform Programme,” the RGC achieved not only macroeconomic
stability but also impressive growth over the last decade and raised living standards and reduced poverty
headcount across the country.
Protecting the gains made so far and staying on the path to ensure future gains in reducing poverty has
now some added risks due to the global financial crisis. If the current situation persists for an extended
period, people who are just over the poverty line at present can fall below the poverty line. The RGC
is therefore taking urgent measures to put in place safety nets through subsidies and targeted laborintensive
work programs, like the food for work program, to protect the most vulnerable and the poor
from the negative impacts of external developments on the Cambodian economy.
Poverty Situation
The results of the CSES in 2007 show that poverty headcount index in parts of the country covered by the
1993-94 survey declined from 39% in 1993-94 to 28% in 2004, and to 24.7% in 2007. In the rural areas
surveyed, poverty headcount declined from 43.1% in 1993-94, to 33.7% in 2004 and to 30.6% in 2007.
Over the three-year period from 2004 to 2007, the poverty headcount index for the whole country
relative to the overall poverty line was reduced from 35% to 30%, at a rate of about 1.2% per year
(Table II.2). The average growth in GDP during this period was 11% per year. The national poverty line
for 2007 was Cambodian riel (CR) 2,470 or about US$ 0.61 per capita per day (at an exchange rate of
CR 4,062: US$ 1 in 2007). The results showed a high concentration of the poor in rural areas. In 2007,
only 0.8% of Phnom Penh City residents were considered poor. About 22 % of the population in other
urban areas was classified as poor, while in the rural areas, the poverty rate was higher at over 34%.
Of the total number of people who were poor, more than 92% lived in rural areas, compared to 7.5% in
other urban areas and only 0.3% in Phnom Penh. The CSES results also showed a decline in poverty
headcount in the following areas from 2004 to 2007: from 4.6% to 0.8% in Phnom Penh; from 25.8%
to 21.9% in other urban areas; and from 39.1% to 34.7% in rural areas.
Table II.2: Poverty estimates by region
Region
Poverty line
1993/1994
Index % % of all poor
2004
Index % % of all poor
2007
Index % % of all poor
Phnom Penh 11.4 3.1 4.6 1.1 0.8 0.3
Urban 36.6 10.4 24.7 7.8 21.9 7.5
Rural 43.1 86.5 39.2 91.1 34.7 92.3
Cambodia 39.0 100.0 34.7 100.0 30.1 100.0
Food poverty line
Phnom Penh 6.2 3.3 2.6 1.1 0.1 0.1
Urban 19.6 10.8 14.2 7.8 12.7 7.3
Rural 21.9 85.9 22.2 91.1 20.8 92.7
Cambodia 20.0 100.0 19.7 100.0 18.0 100.0
Source: World Bank 1993/1994; SIDA & MOP 2004; World Bank 2007.
Poverty and Forestry in National Policy
National Poverty Reduction Strategy
The 2003-2005 National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) serves as a comprehensive framework for
poverty reduction. At the core of the anti-poverty strategy are measures to maintain macroeconomic
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