Livelihoods in Chamcar Bei from 2006 PLA Assessment

The livelihoods of the residents of Chamcar Bei depend largely on the subsistence farming of rice and other crops, such as pumpkin, watermelon, sapotar, jackfruit, peanuts, green beans, papaya, mango, custard apple and maize.  These agricultural activities are made difficult due to a lack of proper irrigation, with only an estimated 20% of the area’s fields having irrigation fit for rice production.  Other constraints included a lack of training and advice on effective agricultural techniques, lack of credit to buy seed and fertilizer, a lack of markets and low market prices for their product. The community relies on traditional methods of farming, with some using cattle for plowing and transportation, and others using human labor for preparing their plot of land. Traditional techniques used in rice production result in low yields, which average 1 ton per hectare.  Low agricultural yields are a leading factor of the low standard of living found in Chamcar Bei.

Fishing and raising animals are also an important means of meeting family consumption needs.  However, around 40% of villagers did not own any animals (at the time of the assessment) and animal diseases have been rife in recent years.  Without institutions in the community providing training or livestock advisors, villagers rely on traditional treatment of the diseases affecting their animals.  This usually results in high mortality rates when outbreaks occur.

Villagers reported that food shortages are a very serious problem. According to the villagers who participated in the PLA, a staggering 50% of village residents only have sufficient food for three months or less out of the year. For the rest, the food gap averages about six months, lasting from May to October. Only 5% of village families were reported to have enough food for more than nine months out of the year. Most villagers employ their unskilled labor to work on forest clearance, guarding land and caring for the animals of wealthy plantation owners in order to earn an income to buy their food. Sometimes they sell their assets to wealthier people at unfair prices when food is badly needed or a family member falls ill.

The permanent residents of Chamcar Bei do not hold land titles for the land they cultivate and thus do not have secure land tenure, especially given a history of rampant land-grabbing and conflicts over land in the Phnom Voar area since the formation of Chamcar Bei village after the Khmer Rouge defection.   

Land in the village is owned by both community residents and outsiders.  Community residents own roughly 55% of the land in the village and outsiders – including land speculators, high government officials and Oknha (the Cambodian super-rich) - own roughly 45%.  Around half of the permanent village residents own between .5 and 2 hectares, while the other half has less than .5 hectares of land.  These villagers with very little land normally raise fish in small ponds and grow other seasonal and subsidiary crops on land that is not taken up by their dwelling.  An estimated 5% of village residents are landless.

Food shortages force most villagers to borrow money. Over 90% of village residents surveyed had debt.  Around 20% of those in debt owed money to private lenders who charge upwards of 15% monthly interest rates.  In order to repay these loans back, some draw from their savings from past earnings.  Those without savings or sufficient income to service their debts end up selling their assets, such as land and livestock, leaving them trapped in poverty and debt.

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