FOOD CRISIS LOOMS IN CAMBODIA
NEW DELHI: In Cambodia, where a large part of the economy is dependent on fisheries and agricultural food processing, the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has deeply impacted the industry resulting in reversing the developments related to decent work and economic growth with respect to its farmer community, especially along the Mekong basin.
Cambodia’s agriculture sector is responsible for generation of more than 20 percent of its gross domestic product and employs around 30 percent of the population. Its position on the Global Food Security Index is below average at 90 out of 113 countries.
Furthermore, United Nations Development Program estimates that around 70 percent of Cambodia’s farms engage in subsistence agriculture by primarily taking loans and repaying them after the harvest season. There’s a widespread poverty in the country, with the nation coming under the low per-capita income category.
After the Mekong River crisis, around 45,000 hectares of rice farms were damaged creating a debt crisis for poor farmers. Consumers on the other side of the spectrum have been hit hard by lack of food supplies, rise in prices of staple foods and a halt in income caused due to Covid-19.
The failure of last monsoons and the presence of Chinese dams in the Northern part of the basin have unleashed droughtlike conditions leading to poverty and food insecurity.
It has affected farmers growing rice on their fields as well as the fishermen, who reported a fall in fish volume by 60 to 70 percent due to the drought- like conditions in the Mekong Basin.
Despite the government working towards ensuring a continuous operation of supply chains, food security is affected by lack of safety income-net for these Mekong delta inhabitants who are at the mercy of natural events and weather.
In the long- term, this region will face a two- pronged attack on its food security. Firstly, the lockdown measures under the Covid pandemic having caused an unprecedented shortage of labor for agriculture coupled with the drought the region will be facing, there will be a slowdown in its supply-side activities.
This would affect income equalities and food supplychains for the larger public in Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. Secondly, due to the pandemic, unemployment and price rises will result in income shortages.
Prices of staple foods in areas like Siem Reap have been estimated to shoot up by 33.33 percent in Cambodia. This will impact the demand due to inability of the buyers to pay for the food items like rice and fish.
As countries strive to be more self-sufficient and reduce importdependency by promoting local supply chains, the Mekong River Basin could be heading towards post-Covid-19 food insecurity.
Furthermore, water shortage is also a reason behind slow progress in sanitation in rural areas, which could cause a major health-crisis.