Helping Cambodian Children to Grow Up Healthy and Strong

By William E. Todd, U.S ambassador to Cambodia

Cambodia is a very young country.  The median age of Cambodians is 24 years and nearly a third of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 14.  With such a large population of children and teenagers, the health and welfare of Cambodia’s youngest citizens is a subject that comes up frequently in questions from readers.  This week, a reader from Phnom Penh asks, “In addition to improving the education system, which other children’s issues do you think should be a priority for our country?”

Without a doubt, my answer would be NUTRITION.  Without proper nutrition, children’s brains and bodies cannot develop properly and even the best education would be wasted.  

Unfortunately, childhood malnutrition is a significant problem in Cambodia.  According to a SURVEY by the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Statistics, 40 percent of Cambodian boys and girls under the age of five are chronically malnourished.  As the father of four children, I can’t imagine the desperation that parents must feel when they do not know where their next meal will come from or when they can’t offer nutritious food to their children.

Samdech Hun Sen has recognized that nutrition and food security are closely linked and present a serious development challenge to Cambodia.  He particularly highlighted this connection this past week at the launch of the Royal Government’s new five-year strategy to strengthen food security and nutrition.

In his remarks, the Prime Minister called on all relevant government ministries to join development partners, international organizations, and Cambodian citizens to work together to strengthen food security and nutrition.  He also called on authorities at the national and provincial level to be more responsive to the problems facing average Cambodians, including on the issue of land concessions.  I appreciate the Prime Minister’s willingness to address these tough issues head on and to provide direction to the national and local authorities whose decisions have a profound effect on the lives of many Cambodians.

Although hunger and malnutrition can affect anyone it has a particularly devastating effect on children, and addressing childhood hunger must be a top priority.  Chronic malnutrition, also known as stunting, is one of the top underlying causes of child mortality in Cambodia. In addition to impeding children’s growth, the harm caused by malnutrition can last for a lifetime.  Malnourished children are more prone to illness later in life. Due to its severe effect on brain development, malnutrition can also permanently reduce a child’s mental capacity, impairing the child’s ability to learn in school and limiting future opportunities for work as an adult.  That is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture is INVESTING millions of dollars for programs that support school feeding in Cambodia, so that food and nutrition can go directly to those who need it when they need it the most.

When malnutrition robs a child of his or her full potential, society as a whole suffers a great loss. A recent joint study by the Royal Government’s Council for Agricultural and Rural Development and the United Nations found that malnutrition may cost the Cambodian economy up to $419 million each year, due to reduced productivity and costs associated with malnutrition-related health problems.Simply put, malnutrition is an economic burden that holds back Cambodia’s development.

As serious as child malnutrition is, it is only a part of the overall food security challenge that Cambodia faces.  Broadly defined, food security means ensuring access to affordable and nutritious food.Here in Cambodia, nearly a quarter of the population still lacks access to enough food to sustain an active, healthy life. The food security situation is particularly precarious for Cambodia’s rural areas, where many people rely on agriculture, fisheries, and forestry for their livelihoods. Their food supply is increasingly under threat from illegal logging, over-fishing, and extreme weather conditions like floods and droughts.

Because there are many factors that affect the food supply and nutrition for the Cambodian people, strengthening food security and reducing malnutrition requires a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach. For example, although Cambodia has a large agricultural sector that employs the majority of the country’s labor force, food production is not efficient due to the lack of technology in production methods. To help address this issue, the U.S. 

Agency for International Development (USAID) developed a five-year HARVEST (Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystem Stability) project – part of the Feed the Future Program –that helps strengthen food security in Cambodia by developing technological solutions that can help rural communities increase their agricultural output and adapt to the impact of climate change.

Lack of food is not the only cause of malnutrition and hunger.  Two other major factors are infectious disease and sanitation, which affect the body’s ability to ingest and utilize food.  A brand-new USAID program called Nourish is going to be launched in the next couple of weeks and will support Cambodia’s efforts to improve the nutrition of women and children through improved sanitation and hygiene.  Improving the nutritional status of women and raising awareness about nutrition and sanitation among mothers will go a long way towards creating a better future for Cambodia’s children.

Achieving food security and improving nutrition will bring a tremendous boost to Cambodia’s development.  As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a  session on food security at the African Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, “When people don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they have a greater ability to fulfill their dreams and become constructive, contributing citizens of the world.”  Improving nutrition and food security will help ensure that Cambodian children grow up healthy, strong, and smart, so that they will be in a position to drive the continued economic and social growth of the country.

I am proud of the work that the U.S. Embassy is doing in conjunction with the Cambodian government, the NGO community, and other international partners to improve food security and nutrition in Cambodia.  This is clearly an issue where Cambodians of all political parties should work together for the benefit of Cambodia’s most vulnerable groups.  The United States will continue to look for ways to bring groups together to advance our common goal of ending malnutrition and hunger in Cambodia and to help the next generation of Cambodians to achieve their full potential.

Thank you again for following my column.  I look forward to receiving more of your questions.  Please send them to me in Khmer or in English at AskAMBToddPP@state.gov.  I also invite you to read my blog at http://blogs.usembassy.gov/todd.

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