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Engaging the private sector in extension services and their direct interaction with farmers contributes to conservation agriculture production systems (CAPS) promotion. This study was conducted to assess influencing factors and mechanisms to engage private sector actors and to rank them to perform their engagement with farmers in an agricultural extension model designed to promote CAPS in Cambodia. The sample size for the survey instrument consisted of 481 randomly selected households, including both CAPS and non-CAPS farmers. For focus group discussions, a purposive sample of 28 participants was used. The positive factors influencing CAPS farmers' engagement with the private sector included gender, number of fields, off-farm income, farm experience, familiarity with the private sector in a commune and government subsidies. In contrast, total land size of main crops, and farmers' perceptions of utilization of private services including a distance of service and increase in profit had a negative impact. Subsidy and incentive programs from the government emerged as highly effective mechanisms for encouraging private sector engagement with farmers. Access to financial institutions was a key priority when engaging the private sector with CAPS farmers. Providing subsidies and incentives is a short-term economic benefit for smallholder farmers that could impact the long-term adoption.

Abstract The determination of changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) content under different cropping systems is necessary for policy development oriented towards soil conservation, C sequestration, and future C credit markets. The aim of this study was to generate an open SOC dataset resulting from a systematic literature search related to the agricultural systems for Southeast Asia. The dataset has 209 articles and 4341 observations on soils of cropping systems in this region from articles published between 1987 and 2023. This dataset included different management practices, land uses, soil sampling depth, and length of SOC content assessment. In addition, inherent features of crop production reported in the experiments were included in the dataset. This dataset can be applied to quantify and compare the impact of different land uses or management practices on SOC content, providing foundational knowledge towards identifying sustainable practices. Lastly, it is a useful guide for future regional SOC sequestration policies and the development of C credit markets.

As the expected cost of conservation agriculture (CA) inputs becomes an issue for farmers, financial institutions (FIs) play an essential role in promoting CA, a set of agricultural management practices with multiple positive effects. This research aimed to determine influencing factors, to rank challenges, and identify mechanisms for farmers to access agricultural credit for adoption of CA management practices in Cambodia. It was administered by conducting a survey of 242 randomly selected households for face-to-face interviews and conducting key informant interviews from purposive samples of 28 participants in Battambang and Preah Vihear provinces. The results indicated that influencing factors, including the family, adult labor and total farm size, had a positive relationship with farmers’ accessibility to agricultural credit, whereas age was negative. However, education year, farm size for main crops, on-farm income and farm experience were not significantly associated. High interest rates were the significant first-order challenge ranked, followed by document process complication, limited agricultural credit information, limited collateral security and a few other challenges. Support and improved process mechanisms to enhance credit accessibility are required to engage with multiple stakeholders, including farmers, FIs, non-government organizations (NGOs) and government officers. There has been a reduction in agricultural credit interest rates and incentives for importing CA inputs by the government, while provision of information support for agribusiness plans by NGOs which have implemented development project activities were considered as the main support mechanism. An improved process mechanism at the farmers’ level needs to include access to credit with low interest rates and a straightforward documentation process, whereas the FI level requires a business plan for lending decisions. It is evident that high lending rates hinder access to agricultural credit and the improvement of support and improved process mechanisms are necessary to better promote CA practices among farmers in Cambodia.

Improving food safety often requires individuals or groups to adopt new food safety behaviors. Understanding individuals’ perceptions of food safety is an important step in creating programs that enable the adoption of such behaviors. To inform the design of food safety programs in Cambodia, this study measured perceptions of vegetable safety among vegetable growers (n = 69; Battambang, Siem Reap) and vendors (n = 31; Phnom Penh) involved in Cambodian informal vegetable markets using a quantitative questionnaire. The majority of respondents (≥ 62.7%, lower bounds of 95% confidence intervals at least 46.2%) across all groups (growers and vendors) were at least “moderately concerned” (scale: “extremely concerned,” “moderately concerned,” “slightly concerned,” “not concerned at all”) about the safety of vegetables sold in Cambodia. However, the mean estimated probability of respondents reporting that chemical contamination was of greater concern than microbial contamination was 84.9% [76.0, 90.9]%. Most respondents reported familiarity with the health effects of consuming chemically (71.4% [61.5, 79.6]%) or microbially (57.3% [47.2, 66.9]%) contaminated vegetables. However, less than half (between 7.3% and 48.4%) of all respondents provided a commonly recognized example of such health effects. Across all groups, respondents most frequently perceived contamination of vegetables as occurring primarily “at the farm” (≥ 76.7%, lower bounds of 95% confidence intervals at least 61.5%, and ≥ 39.3%, lower bounds of 95% confidence intervals at least 21.2%, respectively). Additionally, most respondents (≥ 51.6%, lower bounds of 95% confidence intervals at least 34.0%) perceived “vegetable farmers” as primarily responsible for preventing chemical contamination. Perceptions of responsibility for preventing microbial contamination varied across groups (p = 0.02). Of the vendors in Phnom Penh, growers in Battambang, and growers in Siem Reap involved in this research, 22.6%, 39.0%, and 53.6%, respectively, described at least one commonly accepted contamination prevention practice. These results suggest that food safety programs for each of the described groups should include efforts to increase participants’ understanding of the health impacts of consuming contaminated vegetables. However, specific emphasis should be placed on increasing awareness on the health impacts of consuming vegetables contaminated with microbial pathogens as respondents were generally less aware and concerned with microbial vs. chemical contamination of vegetables. Additionally, programs targeting vegetable growers could leverage growers’ sense of personal responsibility for both contamination and contamination prevention, while programs for vegetable vendors may need to emphasize the importance of vendors in ensuring vegetable safety.

IntroductionSeveral Cambodian initiatives seek to improve nutritional outcomes via increased production and consumption of nutrient-dense foods, including vegetables. However, food safety gaps in informal markets, where most vegetables are purchased, allow for the transmission of foodborne pathogens and threaten the positive nutritional outcomes associated with vegetable consumption.MethodsThis study describes a tool used to measure perceptions of Cambodians involved with informal vegetable markets regarding their capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to implement food safety practices. The quantitative tool could also be used to assess capability, opportunity, and motivation to adopt a behavior in a wide range of development contexts. To these ends, a questionnaire assessing these perceptions was developed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) model of behavior and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).ResultsThe questionnaire was piloted with vegetable vendors in Phnom Penh (N = 55), revised, and subsequently implemented in the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap with vegetable producers, distributors, and vendors (N = 181). Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a nine-factor model corresponding to TDF constructs with a comparative fit index of 0.91, a Tucker-Lewis index of 0.89, and a root mean square error of ~0.05. Further analysis indicated that vegetable vendors and distributors typically had significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels of perceived motivation and capability to implement the target food safety practice (washing surfaces that come in contact with vegetables with soap and water every day) compared to their perceived opportunity to do so. Among farmers, however, levels of perceived motivation were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than levels of perceived opportunity and capability. In addition, vendors in Battambang had significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels of perceived capability, opportunity, and motivation to implement the target food safety practice in comparison to farmers in either province. Vendors in Battambang had significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels of perceived opportunity and motivation than vendors in Siem Reap.ConclusionsThese data suggest that efforts to bolster vegetable vendors' and distributors' perceived opportunity and vegetable farmers' perceived opportunity and capability to implement food safety practices could increase the likelihood of adoption of the target food safety practice.