The contribution of multi-purpose farming to the food security of small-scale farmers: An agro-economic analysis in the lowland Mekong alluvial plain

摘要

Agricultural development models are the focus of intense debate in the Cambodianpolicy-making arenas. A model inspired by the ‘Green Revolution’, which promotesindustrialization of rice cropping systems and is mainly dependent on external inputs,is usually contrasted with multi-purpose farming (MPF) in which rice cropping is integratedwith other production to maximize their interactions and complementarities. Thepurpose of this research is to present some economic arguments based on theexperience in promoting MPF of CEDAC (Centre d’Etude et de Dévelopement AgricoleCambodgien, also known as the Cambodian Center for Study and Development inAgriculture).We develop a comparative analysis between conventional rice cropping systemsand MPF to analyze the production economics and the overall patterns of householdlabor diversification. Focusing primarily on rainy-season rice production, we attributesignificant advantage to MPF against non-MPF practices. These differences areperceptible in higher rice yield, lower cash-paid costs, and higher value-addedper hectare. However, these differences become less significant when multi-purposefarming is only partially implemented, i.e. if some elements of the system are missing.MPF provides employment opportunities that represent a reliable alternative to jobmigration. Under MPF, family labor is used more on-farm than is the case with non-MPF farms and is more homogenously distributed throughout the year.However, we identify barriers that curb the scaling-up of this innovation, which includelimited access to information, anticipated lack of labor, lack of capacity or technicalskills, lack of up-front capital to make the initial investment in land conversion to MPF,and land plot sizes that are too small to be converted to this model. We also discussthe opportunities to create markets for products of differentiated quality producedunder multi-purpose farming.