By Ky Soklim
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read to article in French
Almost half a million of Cambodians are threatened by malnutrition in the provinces bordering the Tonle Sap and Phnom Penh.
On Wednesday, it was learnt that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $35 million and the Cambodian government will fund $5 million in aid to the people affected by the crisis.
The 500,000 beneficiaries of this aid live mainly in the provinces bordering the Tonle Sap (Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom and Kampong Chhnang, Oddor Meanchey) and in poor quarters of Phnom Penh.
The famine is cause by a sharp increase in the price of basic foodstuff: the price of husked rice has doubled, those of meat and fish climb by 30 to 50%. The food situation for farmers is also precarious due to the tripling of the price of fertilizer.
“Cambodian families spend about 60% of their income on food,” said Arjun Goswami, the ADB director in Cambodia, during a press conference held on Wednesday 08 October.
Schoolchildren are the most vulnerable. One Cambodian child in 3 is already affected by malnutrition. “The ADB must protect these children, because malnutrition can affect their bodily and mental growth,” Arjun Goswami announced while adding that the actual needs in the Tonle Sap area to face this crisis would cost about $80 million.
35% of the entire 13.4 million Cambodian population live under the poverty limit.
On Wednesday, it was learnt that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $35 million and the Cambodian government will fund $5 million in aid to the people affected by the crisis.
The 500,000 beneficiaries of this aid live mainly in the provinces bordering the Tonle Sap (Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom and Kampong Chhnang, Oddor Meanchey) and in poor quarters of Phnom Penh.
The famine is cause by a sharp increase in the price of basic foodstuff: the price of husked rice has doubled, those of meat and fish climb by 30 to 50%. The food situation for farmers is also precarious due to the tripling of the price of fertilizer.
“Cambodian families spend about 60% of their income on food,” said Arjun Goswami, the ADB director in Cambodia, during a press conference held on Wednesday 08 October.
Schoolchildren are the most vulnerable. One Cambodian child in 3 is already affected by malnutrition. “The ADB must protect these children, because malnutrition can affect their bodily and mental growth,” Arjun Goswami announced while adding that the actual needs in the Tonle Sap area to face this crisis would cost about $80 million.
35% of the entire 13.4 million Cambodian population live under the poverty limit.
