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

Infrastructural impacts: The CEA report did not capture information on the development
of local infrastructure by the investing company. However, it is likely that roads have been built
in order to transport materials and workers in and out.
5.1.2. Rubber Plantation in Mondolkiri and Kompong Thom Provinces
Socfin KCD and DAK LAK (Mondolkiri province)
In May 2010 the CEA conducted a survey on rubber plantation in Bousra and Krang
communes, Peach Chinda district, Mondolkiri province (Ngo & Chan 2010). Eight ELC
companies are licensed for rubber plantation, each with a land area of 3000–5000 ha. Most
of them have cleared land and planted rubber trees. All of the ELCs are reported to be active,
except for Sarmala Company, but the CEA study mainly focuses on the potential effects of
Socfin KCD and DAKLAK.
Socioeconomic impacts: At the start of its operations in 2008, Socfin KCD employed
approximately 10,000 people—around 2000 between May and August and around 8000 for
the rest of the year. Around 20–25 percent of the total workforce comprised local people, with
60 percent female. The company will employ at least 1500 workers when the plantation is
fully planted. Unskilled workers can earn around USD5 per day; their jobs include weeding
and applying fertilisers and they work 10 to 15 days per month. Skilled workers can earn a bit
more at around USD6.5–8 per day. All the skilled employees are migrants, particularly from
Kompong Cham province, with work experience in the rubber industry. They are satisfied with
their job even though they have to live far away from their families.
Overlapping land claims between villagers and companies are commonplace, as villagers
traditionally move their farmland from one place to another every few years and do not have land
ownership certificates. All villagers in Bousra commune have been affected by Socfin KCD and
DAK LAK investment projects. Villagers were shocked when Socfin KCD cleared their lands
without giving them any notice. Disputes erupted, resulting in the company’s tractors being
burned by the villagers. The Land Conflict Resolution Committee, headed by the provincial
deputy governor and comprising district and commune authorities, was set up to tackle the
problem. Around 172 affected households were on the list endorsed by the government, while
the Community Legal Education Centre (a local NGO) claimed that 362 households in Bu Sra
were initially affected in 2008. Ultimately, the company offered compensation schemes, such
as cash payment of around USD200–250 per ha, land exchange and development. Villagers
tended to opt for cash payment, as the land offered in exchange was too far from the village and
not fertile enough for cultivation. Some initially selected the third option, but later switched to
cash payment given procedural delay. Overall, cash payment was the best option.
On the DAK LAK project, around 40–50 percent of the concession belongs to villagers,
with whom the company negotiated the deal in advance. Half of the villagers’ section of the
concession is near the village, which is convenient for raising cattle. The company has also
provided loans to villagers with a grace repayment period of 10 years to allow them to plant
rubber on the land allocated to them, and has agreed to buy latex from them at 80 percent of
the international market price. The company even allows landless farmers to cultivate crops
between saplings on its concession land until the rubber trees are mature enough for tapping.
Villagers were satisfied with the compromises offered by the company.
Before the companies arrived, people in Bousra made a living by farming lowland and
highland rice and cash crops, collecting forest by-products, raising livestock, fishing, hunting,
34 Foreign Investment in Agriculture in Cambodia