A research suggesting that more land be reallocated to farmers was well received by the government in Cambodia.
Currently the government allocates state land for farming through either economic land concessions (ELCs) targeting large scale investors (up to 10,000 hectares for 50 years) or through social land concessions (SLCs) targeting landless poor households providing access to farmland up to 3 hectares.
The former scheme has caused disputes between investors and local communities, while the latter scheme failed to achieve the desired outcome of securing the livelihood of the poorest.
The results of the two-years research conducted by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) with support from the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) suggested that a more adequate land allocation system should fall between the two existing schemes.
In a workshop held in Phnom Penh last week with the concerned ministries, CPS proposed to allocate larger farmland plots to small and medium farmers from state land becoming available as ELCs are revoked or their size reduced. CPS highlighted as well the opportunities for partnership agreements between companies managing ELCs and local communities. These policies would give farmers access to more land and a more secure tenure so that they can in turn increase their productivity and income, and at the same time reduce land conflicts.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries welcomed the results of the study and expressed its interest to further explore these policy implications, particularly related to promoting partnerships between investors and local communities.
