Church Raising Self-Reliance in Cambodia

February 8, 2008 —

News from the Church

Partnering with the Center for Study and Development of Cambodian Agriculture (CEDAC), a local nongovernmental agency (NGO) in Cambodia, the Church is working to improve the lives of 7,000 families and help them rise out of poverty.
Small farmers are learning a new method of cultivating rice—the system of rice intensification (SRI) that increases production more than 200 percent. The Benson Institute Family Food Program, under the umbrella of Humanitarian Services, is responsible for the three-year Cambodia project. Currently more than 2,000 farmers have learned the new method of planting rice. According to Wade Sperry, manager of field operations, the Church has been involved in other food projects in the past, but this is the first time for rice production.
[Read President Monson’s remarks on the Church’s involvement in humanitarian aid.]
He said the Church joined with CEDAC because it has a history of demonstrated success in the country. CEDAC was organized in 1997 by Cambodian agriculturists to research farming systems and train the country’s small farmers who have been plagued by poverty, Brother Sperry explained.
For hundreds of years these small farmers have raised rice the same way, by planting and flooding their small plots of land. Now they are learning how to grow the rice in a dry field. This method has more than doubled the farmers’ yields giving them a much larger harvest to sell at market. Production costs have been reduced as well.
Fr. Henri de Laulanié, S.J., who was working with farmers in Madagascar to improve their farming methods, developed the SRI method in the 1980s. Eventually word of the method’s success spread, and it has been adopted by others.
Elder John and Sister Jean Lyman, humanitarian missionaries with Latter-day Saint Charities, have been working with the rice project. They report that more than 100 villages have been involved so far.
In addition to teaching rice production, CEDAC is training farmers how to develop co-ops so they can sell the rice at higher prices. These group efforts also allow them to purchase seed and other supplies at lower prices, Brother Sperry explained.
The Church is also helping to improve the people’s nutrition. Families in these villages usually survive on rice and any fish they can catch. They are now learning how to plant personal vegetable gardens and how to raise chickens. Brother Sperry said the villagers, who sometime catch eels and frogs to eat, are now also learning how to breed them for a consistent supply of protein.
Since missionary work has not progressed into the rural areas yet, none of the families in the food production program are members of the Church.
Another aspect of this program is the education of families in modern hygiene and health practices. This brings about a reduction of disease in the towns, Brother Sperry explained.
The Church’s goal of improving the quality of life for Cambodians also includes a theatrical production about family life performed by youth from the Phnom Penh district. The “Academy Performers” tell the audience members they are sponsored by LDS Charities, but do not proselytize.
The play they present, “Father Leads the Way,” emphasizes the importance of men being good farmers, fathers, and heads of families. It also addresses relationships between children and parents and between husband and wife.
The concept of holding family councils is introduced in the play and demonstrates how successful such councils can be. The issues of alcohol abuse and smoking are also addressed.
Brother Sperry explained, “The mission president wanted to participate somehow in this sizeable humanitarian project.” He assigned a senior missionary couple, Elder and Sister Dudley, to write the script and to use the youth of the area in the play. It “helps the farm families learn about family ideals, and the youth who perform the play are learning as well as serving these families in their own country,” he noted.
For information on how to contribute, visit the Humanitarian Services site.