EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 SUCCESS STORIES FROM ASIA

	CARERE: The Cambodia Area Rehabilitation and Regeneration Project
	Location	Provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat and Siem Reap, and Ratanakiri; Cambodia.
	Responsible organization(s)	Royal Government of Cambodia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Project Services UNOPS, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
	Description	The CARERE project supports the Royal Government of Cambodia's first five Year socio-economic Development Plan (1996-2000), particularly through the SEILA programme, an experiment in the decentralized planning and financing of integrated local development focused on the alleviation of poverty and promotion of peace, managed by the Royal Government. Lack of quality seeds is a critical factor impeding the growth of sustainable agriculture in many countries. Rice yields are low in Cambodia, averaging 1.25 tons per hectare (wet season). Cultivators face several constraints in their attempt to improve rice yields including: uncertain water supply, limited availability of fertilisers and poor quality seed stock. The Department of Agriculture in Battambang Province developed a proposal to ease these constraints, aiming at enabling local producers to grow high quality rice seed with higher yields. It included farmer training, improved farmer access to credit for the purchase of quality inputs and improved quality of seed grown by local producers. To implement this initiative the CARERE Project worked together with the Department of Agriculture by providing resources and technical assistance. The project was organized into sections that covered the practical issues of agronomy, livestock, marketing and credit, farm economics, soil conservation and extension. The project goals could not be reached without adequate understanding and support of the local farming community. Therefore, considerable time and effort was spent in introducing the project in the area, presenting its aims to win the support of the farmers, involving them in the situation analysis, identification of solutions and the decision-making processes (the responsibility of this task was given to a small team of extension animators, who were given adequate training in advance).
	Issues addressed	Participatory approach to sustainable agriculture.
	Objectives	* Significant improvement in the standard and quality of living of the rural farming households. * Increasing the agricultural production among participating families while conserving and improving its soils, inputs and farm management.
	Results achieved	A total of 122 families (from 8 villages) participated in training and practical modules consisting of: understanding soil conditions, sustainable rice production methods, particularly on the preparation and use of indigenous manure,; and seed multiplication techniques. Simultaneously, the Agronomy Stations in the rural areas of Battambang were rehabilitated and began operational research on rice, fruit and vegetable production. The Department of Agriculture strengthened its skills in new techniques, administration and coordination. The Government increased the capacity of identify opportunities and appropriate methods for developing agriculture production, particularly in the areas of rice multiplication and fruit production. The project also gave an opportunity to women (almost 36% of all participants) to take part in the training programmes. Another important outcome was the decentralization process initiated under the project (versus the highly centralised approach adopted earlier by the Government Agencies).
	Lessons learned	An operation problem that affected the outcome concerned the limitations of the line agencies' technical staff. Agency staff, especially the extension workers, were constrained in their practice by the structure of their institutional responsibilities, the lack of good institutional infrastructure and support, and the way they had been trained. All these circumstances served to limit enthusiasm and discouraged agencies' staff into putting much energy and effort in the implementation of a participatory approach. For CARERE, this experience highlighted the enormous difficulties that technologically based development projects have in adjusting to local demands. It confirmed that sustainability cannot be merely incorporated into the design of a project like another input, but that it demands a thoughtful local level planning of methodologies.
	Financing	UNCDF is a key partner, particularly in the design and financing of the Local Development Fund and Rural Roads Development Fund components. The international donor community provided substantial support to the project. Principal donors are: The Royal Government of Sweden, UNDP, UNCDF, the Royal Government of the Netherlands, Caisse Francaise de Developpement (CDF), the Royal government of Norway, the European Union (EU).
	Contact	Mr. Scott C. Leiper, Programme Manager, UNDP/UNOPS/CARERE Project P. o. Box 877, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.