Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap Lake is running out of fish. Over the past decade, a devastating combination of climate change, illegal fishing and a dam construction spree on the Mekong River, has plunged the lake — and the tens of thousands of people who live on it — into crisis.
VSO’s GREEN project is supporting families who depend on the lake for their livelihood, to find new sustainable ways of earning a living.
Meet Mr Em Phat
Mr Em Phat and his wife and four children have lived in a floating village of Tonle Sap Lake for many years. His family's livelihood relied entirely on fishing.
He says "Several years ago, I started realising that the natural fishes in the Tonle Sab Lake seem to have decreased from one day to another. I was not allowed to fish throughout the whole year anymore, but only for a few months. Later, in 2019, my family accepted an offer from the government to move to the mainland, for which we received compensation land of 12x100 metres"
Mr Phat adds, “Living on the mainland, I didn’t have the skills to get a regular job. Due to a lack of work opportunities in this area, one of my sons migrated to work in South Korea and our family relied on him for income.”
With money saved from his son's support, Mr Phat set up a small vegetable farm and fish farm in late 2021. He had this idea after visiting his son in South Korea and learning new skills while visiting Korean farms.
It was a challenge for him. He shares, “At that time, I did not have any experience in fish or eel raising, and I did not have any technical skill in fingerling (small fish) selection, feed selection, breeding, water quality check, or disease management.”
Creating alternative livelihoods through aquaculture
In 2023, Mr. Phat was introduced to the GREEN project. VSO Cambodia leads the implementation of the Green Economy component of the project, including creating opportunities for local people to engage in aquaculture.
Aquaculture — the farming of aquatic organisms, such as eels, shellfish, and seaweed, in a controlled environment — is one of the three agriculture value chains that VSO implements to strengthen and improve the resilience of the local economy.
VSO works collaboratively with the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (PDAFF) to provide training on aquacultural techniques such as setting up an eel farms, selecting eel fingerling , checking the quality of water, feed processing, monitoring eel disease, and other technical practices.
Up until now, the project has provided technical training to 345 eel, fish, and frog farmers in three provinces. The project also provides materials to help them to start their farm.
Mr. Phat is one among the other farmers who received technical training on eel raising and input support from the project.
A new start for green businesses
To support scaling up the eel-raising farm for Mr. Phat, the GREEN project supported him to participate in the green economy’s business incubation program. In this programme, the project identifies potential start-ups and existing small or medium businesses in the target communities. Then, the selected participant receives training on green business development.
Participants are taught how each business affects the environment and how to prevent damaging natural resources. Participants are also supported to develop business plans and analyse each business's strengths, opportunities and threats, while building marketing strategies, and managing costs and income.
This business incubation program also provides a small grant to each business plan that reaches the criteria, with ongoing coaching and mentoring given to business owners.
Mr. Phat was very happy to receive a grant through the green business pitching event. He recalls, “As I started my activity, I faced some challenges. One of them, the risk of electricity cut, was particularly threatening, especially during the eel fingerling hatching process.
“Thankfully, with a $1,500 grant from VSO’s business incubation program, I could install solar panels for my eel farm. This allows me to have a stable electricity supply which is essential when hatching eel fingerlings.”
Mr Phat smiles when he is asked about the progress of his eel farm, “I could see there is a substantial demand from the market in my community for eel products. Not only the eels but also the fingerlings. The production cost for raising the eels is low compared to other species as we can use natural feed and — with the proper skills — the eels are easy to raise.
“I decided not to sell eels to the market yet, but I am using them for hatching fingerlings. I now have around 345 eels in my two tank ponds, which I can use to produce more than 5000 eel fingerlings. I plan to expand my farm by installing tank ponds with money gained from selling my eel fingerlings."
Sharing knowledge with the community
To ensure sustainability and ownership of the project within the community, farmer trainers have been introduced. VSO provides training to the selected farmer trainers so that they can share their knowledge with other farmers in their communities. Mr Phat was inspired to become a farmer trainer.
“I am happy to share all my skills with my community members and other farmers, especially the skill of selecting eel fingerling, eel fingerling hatching, feed processing, and how to take care of the eels and any other skills that I learned and experienced by myself “, said Mr. Phat.
He adds, “I would like to thank VSO and the project team for always supporting me with technical training and providing adequate input that helped me start up my eel farming business. I promise to take ownership of this eel farm and encourage all Cambodians to support our local products and apply our skills together, so we’re less reliant on importing products from other countries.
“Through this, I hope to help generate income opportunities within Cambodia and create enough work in our local area, so no one is forced to migrate for work.”
Generating Resilient Environments and Promoting Socio-Economic Development of the East Tonle Sap Lake (GREEN)
Those living on the shores of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia depend on its resources for their income, yet climate change and overfishing are increasingly threatening their livelihoods.
The GREEN project has helped to boost incomes and create sustainable agriculture for these vulnerable communities, with 1,683 fishing communities' members being trained in alternative livelihoods.
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