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

gold mining and running small businesses. However, the ELCs have badly affected highland
cultivation, and some local people have also lost their land to the companies. This has brought
hardship, as they can no longer generate an income from collecting non-timber forest products,
which used to generate USD10–15 per week. They now have to go further from home to hunt
and collect forest by-products in order to survive. Moreover, some have lost an income source
from livestock farming given the loss of grassland to ELCs.
Environmental impacts: The study did not capture critical impacts on the local
environment. It might be assumed, however, that the investment has caused a natural imbalance,
given the sudden and large-scale planting of rubber trees. Rubber trees store carbon, but they
require a larger volume of water which could lead to water use that competes with that of local
ethnic communities. It could also result in loss of natural habitat, as forest land has been turned
into private estates.
Infrastructural impacts: The companies have rehabilitated roads and contributed
school buildings. For instance, DAK LAK donated a school building to the community in
Koh Nhek district. However, there have been complaints about the destruction of communityfunded
roads since the arrival of the companies.
Tan Bien (Kompong Thom province)
CDRI conducted fieldwork in Kraya commune in December 2010, consulting a commune
councillor on the overall impacts of ELCs on the commune and holding an FGD in Thmor
Samleang village in order to examine the effects of the investment project. It should be noted
that the number of private investments, both foreign and domestic, in the form of ELCs in Kraya
commune has been rising. There have been several reports of disputes between Vietnamese
companies, i.e. Tan Bien Investment and Phuek Fa Investment (Phuek Fa was formerly known
as Mean Rithy Investment, owned by a Cambodian investor) and the local communities.
The major occupations in Kraya commune are growing paddy rice and cassava and
collecting forest by-products. Villagers claim that an income solely from growing paddy rice is
not enough and farmers generate extra income by collecting wood resin and vines or working as
day labourers on rice fields or plantations. Some catch porcupines, as they are in high demand
for medicinal purposes. Some use income from selling forest by-products to buy fertiliser to
improve the otherwise poor soil fertility so as to increase their paddy yield (average yield is 2 to
4 tonnes per ha). Given rising market demand in recent years, about half of the total population
of the commune has decided to clear state forest land to grow cassava, which on average
fetches around KHR300,000 (about USD73) per tonne, while others have grown cashew nuts
or jack fruit. Aware of villagers’ hardships, the commune councils have turned a blind eye to
such land clearance.
Socioeconomic impacts: There was evidence of significant job creation when Tan Bien
started operating. The company employed a large number of people in the commune (no data
confirmed by commune council) mainly to do jobs such as weeding, digging, spraying pesticide
and watering at an average daily wage of around KHR12,000–13,000 (approximately USD3-
3.5). However, the majority of employed villagers quit their jobs, complaining of unbearable
hardship. Problems ranged from insufficient skills to tend rubber saplings and apply pesticide,
to fraud in wage disbursements. In response, the company gathered a workforce from
neighbouring communes and other provinces, mainly Kompong Cham, as farmers there are
more familiar with growing rubber saplings and maintaining trees.
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