Families are learning organic, sustainable farming techniques to grow staple crops. These fruit and vegetable farms provide food for consumption and surplus is brought to local markets and used to generate income. Staple foods include aubergine, watercress, mango, Chinese cabbage, and cucumbers.
Huy Meng, 52, shows his organically grown cucumbers. He is able to grow abergine, cucumbers, morning glory, and cauliflower.
Meng says he makes all natural manure because it improves the life of his gardens and the quality of his food. Other community members add things to their fertilizer to help food grow faster, but the food suffers and the fields don’t yield as much.
Proeang Touch, 61, picks long beans from his garden.
He received seeds and agriculture training from Church World Service. They helped him build a small irrigation system and water pump to grow a garden. His primary crops are Chinese cabbage and watercress.
Mr. Sen Khloeng is a Church World Service sustainable farming training beneficiary.
Mr. Sen Khloeng grows mango tree sapplings in this garden area and once they are a certain size they get planted in his land and grow into full sized mango trees. He began his gardening when he joined the Church World Service initiative for sustainable agricultural practices. He received both training for how to cultivate his land and seeds to get him started.
“I have what I have today because of CWS.”
Mr. Oum Lay and his family
Mr. Oum Lay grows mango trees on his property. They are a food source for his family and surplus growth is sold at the local market and has become a great income-generating opportunity. His land also received a water pump, in partnership with Church World Service, that allows him and members of his community to have access to water. He is a member of the sustainable agricultural training initiative through CWS and is a leader for the local rice storage facility.
From left to right, Mr. Sim Kheang, Mr. Oum Lay, and Mr. Chan Heng are the leaders of the rice storage facility for the community (in background).
Mr. Ry Sarath is a local farmer who received seeds from Church World Service to begin cultivating his land and grow his own food. He is a member of the local farming group and rice storage facility.
CWS provided sustainable farming training to a few local men who had very little. Now Sarath has a large plot of land that he cultivates with seeds from CWS.