Establishing a network of private Farm Business Advisors (FBAs)

Description of Intervention

The programme is designed to minimize farmers’ risk in adopting new technologies and practices that will enable them to increase agricultural productivity and their resilience to climate change.

FBAs provide consultation on:
• Expired or adulterated seed and fertilizers;
• Water management technologies enabling farmers to avoid drought and achieve highest productivity cost-effectively;
• Opportunities for farmers to see public demonstration sites and evaluate the technologies before purchasing;
• Information on price cycles and market quality standards; and
• Technical advice on backing up products.

Problems to be Addressed

Many Cambodian farmers cannot take advantage of growing and selling vegetables because they lack good quality inputs, irrigation, credit, know-how, and market information.

Aims

To improve the lives of low-income farmers and rural communities by increasing agricultural productivity and income

Objectives

To develop a suitable micro-franchise enterprise that provides affordable agricultural inputs, technical advice, in-kind credit and marketing services to small farmers

How it fits into the EbA concept

• Drip irrigation equipment: This helps farmers reduce the amount of water needed to cultivate a given area of land by 50%.
• Fertilizer Deep Placement (FDP): A technology consisting of compressed fertilizer briquettes that are placed beneath the soil. The FDP can provide positive effects on the surrounding ecosystems, as the highly efficient FDP requires less fertilizer to achieve the same production gains.

Relevant Publications

» IDA Cambodia project website
» Nestlé''s Project Website
» Project Update 1 December 2009: http://www.ide-cambodia.org/download/FBA_Update_1_2010-01-13.pdf
» Project update 2 September 2012: http://www.ide-cambodia.org/download/FBA_Update_2_2010-10-31.pdf