Communities are learning new practices to provide food for their families. Fish and chicken raising, mushroom spore growth and fruit farms are a few income-generating opportunities that Cambodian families are learning through partnerships with Church World Service. Families are able to feed themselves and use their surplus to sell at local markets. These practices help eliminate hunger and encourage community growth.
This is the wife of the Tep Kosal family. The father and youngest son are unable to speak and the father has high blood pressure.
The Tep Kosal family participates in multiple CWS initiatives such as chicken raising, fish farming, and latrine building. They received initial chickens from CWS and those are used for eggs and additional chicken growth. It takes five months to raise the chickens. They are used for family consumption and to sell at the local market as an income-generating opportunity. They also started construction on a family latrine, but they are focused on chicken raising and fish farming and plan to complete the latrine in the coming months.
This is the families fish pond. The family provided the labor to dig the hole and CWS provided initial fish and fish food to help start the fish pond.
Pooenng Pov, 54, is a CWS beneficiary and participates in the fish raising initiative.
CWS provided training, fingerling, and necessary materials for setting up a pond. This is their first trial with fish raising and because it takes four to five months to raise 200-300 fish the family will continue to rely on money from daily wage labor. They do not have farmland of their own.
This husband and wife team participates in multiple CWS initiatives including chicken raising, a small family garden, and snack kiosk development. They have used the initial money they’ve saved to begin repairs on their home. They are halfway finished but have to continue saving to complete the rest of the work. CWS has also provided them with a water filtration system for clean water.
Mrs. Naen Aem is a member of the chicken raising initiative with Church World Service.
CWS-trained community leaders host a training session to teach villagers how to grow mushroom spores.
a man uses a cotton bud to wipe his fingers with alcohol. His hands must be free from contamination before he begins to pack the bags.
Yum Demni, 41, a CWS beneficiary, shows how mushroom spores are grown.
Yum Demni received training on how to grow mushroom spores and CWS provided the materials for spore production so that he could begin to grow food for his family. Additional growth is able to be sold at the local market as an income generating opportunity
He is one of the most successful farmers for spore growth and development. Here he shows us his newly prepared glass jars and his barrels of hay used to begin the growth process.