UpScale

Background

Despite the socio-economic development of the past decade, poverty and inequality remain a major challenge in Cambodia. According to the United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index, there has been an improvement in Cambodia. The poverty rate fell from 46.8 per cent of the population in 2011 to 33.8 per cent in 2014. Over the same period, this index fell from 0.211 to 0.150. However, Cambodia remains ranked 143rd out of 187 countries (2015) on the United Nations Human Development Index, a situation exacerbated by growing inequalities. Thus, whilst progress can be observed, a large proportion of the population (83 per cent) remains vulnerable to poverty, to such an extent that seemingly insignificant events can be enough to plunge many Cambodians back into poverty. The majority of the population (80 per cent) lives in rural areas and more than half (55 per cent) depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Most agricultural production takes place on family farms of less than 0.5 hectares, which is considered the minimum area required to meet families’ basic nutritional needs.

Expected results/impacts

In Cambodia, Ucoopia (formerly Eclosio) supports small family farms with the aim of improving their living conditions and enabling them to earn a decent living through their farming activities. To achieve this, we promote food sovereignty and acceptable living standards in rural areas, strengthen women’s leadership roles within their communities, and encourage young people to stay in the country by engaging in agriculture. The specific objective of the UpScale project is to generate a decent income that enables them to remain above the poverty line.

Project evaluations

Below you will find the evaluations and the management’s responses regarding this project (in English):

Uni4Coop Cambodia 2022 Final Evaluation Report

Management response to the final assessment for Uni4Coop Cambodia – 2022