Community participation tapped to improve condition in poor Cambodian provinces

Paul Icamina - AHN News Writer

Tonle Sap, Cambodia (AHN) - Community participation to drive development is the centerpiece of an ambitious project aimed to improve the conditions of one of Cambodia's poorest provinces surrounding Tonle Sap Lake.
The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will provide a $1.5 million grant for the Building Community Capacity for Poverty Reduction Initiatives in the Tonle Sap Basin. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will manage the funding.
"Building the capacity of the communities through the proposed grant will be crucial to accelerate poverty reduction in the Tonle Sap Basin," said Urooj Malik, Director of ADB's Southeast Asia Department.
Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and directly benefits 40 percent of Kampong Chhang, Kampong Thom and Pursat provinces that adjoin the lake.
Its waters flow between the lake and the Mekong River. Many of the people in the lowland rural communities that surround Tonle Sap depend on its waters for agriculture.
Despite the richness of the lake, the Tonle Sap region has the highest poverty rate in Cambodia at 38 percent.