At around 5AM, you would already catch Long Sinang in a small crowd gathering near the beautiful Tonle Sap lake, patiently waiting for the fresh catch of fish in the province of Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia. In the dim of the early dawn, the watchful spectators would catch a glimpse of the fishermen arriving, and the early morning silence would turn into quiet whispers. “They’re here,” some people would talk to themselves, and the noise would get louder and louder as the fishermen come closer to the shore, everyone with their game face on, ready to compete against each other to purchase the best catch at the best price.
Sinang, however, is silent; this scenario is nothing new to her. Having been in this business for more than a decade, the 36-year old fish seller and farmer is already a common face in the crowd. With the network she built in the small fish industry in the province, she’s assured she won’t go empty-handed.
And she would, indeed, have one of the best catches to sell in her little fish stall come daytime. She would prepare the fishes herself at the request of customers – cut them, remove their intestines, and clean their insides. She would set aside the organs neatly as she deals with her valued customers; she would have a good use for these later.
After a busy morning in the market, she would go home, carrying the fish wastes with her in a small plastic bag. She would then mix and boil these with animal feed, which she would later use to feed her pigs. The fish wastes are not wasted, after all.
Sometimes within the day she would get calls from her neighbors and fellow livestock farmers, asking her help to inject their cattle and other livestock with vaccines. “There’s something wrong with my pigs,” she would hear them worryingly complain over the phone, and Sinang the expert would come to the rescue. If she happens to be busy, however, she would sometimes send her equally-knowledgeable husband to help them instead.
In the evening, she would wear her full-on mother suit. She would cook delicious dinner for her family, and would spend time with them watching a movie or a television drama. With all the hustle and bustle of the day, at 10 PM one would find that the lights in their home are already out.
This is just an ordinary day for Long Sinang – a fish seller, a farmer, a wife, a mother of two, and one of the Village Animal Health Workers (VAHW) in the community, with the training and support provided by the Community Livestock Market Development (CLIMAD) project in Cambodia.
CLIMAD and Livestock Market Development in Cambodia
Implemented by People in Need with financial support from the European Union and the Czech Development Agency, CLIMAD is a rural development initiative that engages the private sector, civil society organizations and relevant authorities in reducing the poverty of 30,000 livestock smallholders living in 205 villages of Pursat and Kampong Chhnang provinces in Cambodia.
To achieve this, CLIMAD’s team is working to enable local veterinarians, veterinary companies and local shops to improve the quality, accessibility and demand for private, community-based veterinary and marketing services. As a result, farmers are able to boost their incomes from livestock production while service providers increase their profits, generating win-win solutions for addressing livestock smallholders’ needs.
At the same time, CLIMAD ensures that the promoted livestock raising practices are environmentally sensitive and beneficial to key animal care-takers – women and youth.
With a duration of 3.5 years, a total budget of 1.4 million USD and a team of 35 staff, CLIMAD is considered among the largest livestock market development projects in the region.
Sinang is just one of their most-valued beneficiaries.
Life Before and After CLIMAD
Before agreeing to become a beneficiary of CLIMAD, Sinang was just a curious livestock farmer, eager to increase her income to better support her family.
“I was just a normal farmer… I raise pig, raise chicken, but I face a lot of problems with animal diseases, so I do not earn much. For example, for one season I only earn 1 million riel (250 USD) for my chickens, which is not much.”
Little did she know that the livestock initiative would turn her livelihood around. “After the training, I earn 5-6 million riel in a season (1250 USD – 1500 USD), which is five or six times my original income!” she said excitedly.
CLIMAD equipped Sinang with the knowledge and skills in proper animal-raising, including animal vaccination, and trained her to become one of the provinces’ VAHW. This, in turn, boosted her livestock farming livelihood.
“This is because of the project… because the project provided me with technical knowledge and trained me to raise chickens and pigs, and how to produce animal feed. Now I can protect animals and prevent their diseases by using my knowledge.”
According to Sinang, another good thing about the initiative is that they do not provide them with loans, which would later on prove difficult to pay – they just give 70% of the total cost to help the farmers boost their livelihood, without them having to return it afterwards. “They give the support (money), the investment cost, to build the animal raising facility and construct the animal house… Not loan, they just provide,” she said.
Apart from this, Sinang said that the project also trained farmers like her on how to find a good market for their products.
“They provide us market development training, and they also help us find the market… They link farmer products to market.”
Moreover, the livelihood project likewise helped them strengthen their farmers’ network. “They also help us gain a better network. For example, one village has 20-30 farmers; they divide them into two groups. One group can be composed of 10-12 farmers, and in our case I was the team leader… The group should help each other out and provide feedback. That way, we learn from each other. We build good relationships,” she explained.
Finally, CLIMAD also gives incentives to the best farmers.
“For example if you are a very good farmer and you follow instructions carefully, use money wisely, and produce good outputs, they would bring you to field visits to see best practices from other areas... That way, we are motivated to do better and by doing better, we learn more.”
With all these, Sinang confidently says she had a better life now after she got involved in CLIMAD. “I now have a good livelihood – a stable one. Before, I don’t have much income. Now that I have a higher income, I can already afford to buy things that I and my family wants!” she joyfully said.
Related: Of Livestock, Sustainability, and Other Living Things
But not everything can be perfect. Just like any other projects, CLIMAD also have its own share of difficulties in project implementation.
According to Sinang, they have three major challenges. One of these is some farmers’ mismanagement of the dole-out money given to them.
“I am a farmer group leader, and I manage 10-12 farmers. Normally I face difficulties because after the project gives the money, the farmers don’t use it to implement the program. They use it for other activities instead.”
But the project already posed a remedy for this. According to her, if the project implementers find out that the farmers had not been using the money properly, they would be removed from the project beneficiary list and would be required to return the money given to them.
Another challenge is the market scope and production cost. “We can only sell our products in the local markets here… they are not transported to Phnom Penh or other big cities. Because of this, we earn little profit, as the production cost is very high,” she stated.
To solve this, Ms. Sinang suggested that the government help them regulate the prices of feed, such that even if they can only sell their products in the local market, they can still earn more. Moreover, she said it would also be good if the farmers would produce their own animal feed, just like what she does, so they would not have to purchase the expensive ones available in the market.
Last but not the least is the cost of animal vaccines. Sinang explained that they know how to vaccinate because of the trainings provided to them by CLIMAD, and they can already control the diseases and prevent its presence by around 90% because of this. But the cost of vaccination is still too high for farmers like them.
“We just want a lower price for the vaccines, that’s all,” she said.
Looking Beyond the ‘Now’
But apart from these, all seems well and bright for Long Sinang’s future. Thanks to CLIMAD, Sinang feels happy and content with her livelihood.
“Ten years from now, I know my life is going to get better and better… Because right now I have a stable job, a good income, and the technical skills to solve my problems in livestock-raising -- and that’s all I need,” she said in a happy, confident voice.
Maybe ten years from now, Sinang would still be waiting in the stunning Tonle Sap lake of Kampong Chhnang province, expecting for the little boats to arrive on the shore at 5 AM, silently waiting in the crowd for her favorite fishermen to bring her the best catch of the day.
But then maybe in ten years, she would not have to do that anymore. She can sleep as long as she pleases, and still have everything in her home when she wakes up – her husband, two lovely children, and her perfectly-earning livestock, just situated yards apart from her in the backyard.
And maybe, that’s all she would ever need.
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