Foreign Investment in Agriculture in Cambodia CDRI Working Paper ...

4.3. Livestock
Livestock farming, i.e. pigs, cattle and poultry, needs to expand as demand for food
increases, and the government is now focusing on improving food quality and safety. To attain
this, the Department of Production and Animal Health of MAFF, which also has offices in the
provinces, has set out the tasks related to policies on animal health and livestock production,
improving veterinary services and extending credit support to livestock farmers. It is also
responsible for enacting laws and regulations on the quality of animal products, controlling
the import and export of livestock at border gates and inspecting sanitary and phyto-sanitary
standards at slaughterhouses.
With support from USAID and FAO, the draft law on animal health and production
which covers animal and public health issues was initiated in early 2009. As Cambodia is the
transit point for cattle movements from Thailand to Vietnam, it is vital to have such law. Largescale
cattle and pig trading companies appear to be highly influential in the long-distance
movement of livestock, both within Cambodia and between neighbouring countries. They
are well-protected through high level connections at ministry level, which enables them to
manipulate not only livestock traders, but also police, military police and veterinary officials
(FAO et al. 2009: 21-22).
There is no specific rule with regard to promoting investment in the industry; however,
as set out in the Investment Law, investors qualify for custom duty exemption if they produce
more than 1,000 heads of livestock, or more than 10,000 fowl and eggs, or manage a dairy
herd larger than 100 cows. Despite the absence of a specific policy, the overall investment
procedure is in line with that stated above. Issues arising in the sector are often brought up
at the Government-Private Sector Forum (a trouble-shooting mechanism) by the Technical
Working Group on Agriculture and Agro-industry. For instance, the issue of widespread pig
smuggling which harms domestic producers was addressed through Instruction No.001 dated
13 August 2007 on the prohibition of meat and live pig imports.
4.4. Water Resources and Technology
Water resource management is crucial to agricultural development. To date, Cambodia’s
irrigation system is still not sufficiently developed. The vast majority of farming is rain-fed,
making it highly vulnerable to variable weather conditions. The government has formed wateruser
communities across the country by expanding reservoir capacity to meet demand. In
addition, MAFF and the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRaM) have,
as required by the NSDP, prepared a Strategy for Agriculture and Water through the newly
established Technical Working Group on Agriculture and Water.
The government, in order to scale-up productivity in agriculture for own consumption
and trade, has intervened further, such as by providing high-quality seeds that yield highquality
produce, facilitating farmers’ adoption of better technology, reducing harvest and postharvest
losses, and promoting innovative agricultural practices, including Integrated Crop
Management. Reducing the price of electricity will also help lower the cost of production.
4.5. ELCs and Commercial Production
As Cambodia’s potential to export agricultural products to the world market grows,
the government is placing higher priority on commercial agricultural production, especially
rice and other agri-business crops such as rubber and cassava. Unlike subsistence agriculture,
26 Foreign Investment in Agriculture in Cambodia