Cambodia

Cambodia’s gross domestic production in 2015 was .8 billion and its per capita income was 80, making it one of the poorest countries. Cambodia has a sad history. At the end of the 20th century, about a quarter of the population was massacred and the population is now about 16 million which less than its neighboring countries’ population. As of 2015, exports of 7.7 billion won depend on agricultural products such as natural rubber, rice, pepper, and wood. Korea’s exports to Cambodia are 650 million dollars, which includes mainly textiles, transportation machinery, and agricultural products.
Asia Fairtrade Network develops and sells cashew nut products by using clean cashew nuts grown in a natural environment in the village of Pumkoan, where the Krung people lived with little contact with civilization in remote jungles of Cambodia. By purchasing the product, you can help us support the Krung, indigenous people in Cambodia’s village called Pumkoan, to make sustainable farming and live a better life, while delivering delicious and reliable products to Korean consumers.

Cashew Producers’ group in Pumkoan Village

The Cambodian village of Pumkoan is a jungle area that had hardly any contact with civilization until two or three years ago. The Krung people are one of 13 minorities living in the Ratanakiri jungle with about 300 Krung residents living in the village.
Pumkoan village has the perfect climate and soil condition for cashew nut farming so even when they are raised naturally the nuts are very sweet and big.
However, during the spring season, Pumkoan farmers, who deal with the difficulty of eating one meal a day, had to sell their cashew nuts at very low prices due to lack of cashew processing technology or even simple processing facilities.

In 2018, with the support from Worldshare, Korea’s International Development Cooperation NGO, we established a cashew nut processing plant in the village and started to build more facilities. Asia Fairtrade Network improved the quality of the cashew nuts from the village and developed them into products. In December 2018, they were introduced to Korean consumers for the first time.
With the continuous fair trade partnership with Asia Fairtrade Network, they are operating cashew nut processing plants and are creating jobs for the vulnerable village women and unemployed youth.
Also, in the recent years, fair trade has opened and renovated a school in the village so that children can get proper education instead of having to do labor work.
We are consistently finding ways that are best for both Korea’s fair trade consumers and the people of Pumkoan village.

Pumkoan village that changed through fair trade

• 34-year old Luxlie is raising a 4-year old son on her own after her husband passed away due to illness at young age. Since her family had to sustain their livelihood with daily income of less than , she had to watch her husband pass away in vain without being able to provide any medical treatment at all. Then, the life of Luxlie changed.It is because a cashew nut processing facility was established in the Pumkoan village through the support provided by World Share, an international development cooperation NGO of Korea. The local residents were led to produce higher quality cashew nuts by undergoing education on farming and processing techniques, and quality control. Residents like Luxlie who have no tree of their own were employed by the processing facility. 34-year old Luxlie is raising a 4-year old son on her own after her husband passed away due to illness at young age. Since her family had to sustain their livelihood with daily income of less than , she had to watch her husband pass away in vain without being able to provide any medical treatment at all. Then, the life of Luxlie changed.It is because a cashew nut processing facility was established in the Pumkoan village through the support provided by World Share, an international development cooperation NGO of Korea.

• The local residents were led to produce higher quality cashew nuts by undergoing education on farming and processing techniques, and quality control. Residents like Luxlie who have no tree of their own were employed by the processing facility. Luxlie, now earning income from the newly found job at the facility, is able to take trips to the city and purchase drugs to restore vitality in her life by escaping from the fear of illness that had been painful due to poverty she confronted throughout her life. krung clan has established the foundation for better life with the fair trade premium that now allows them to go to hospitals when their family are ill and earning money through sales of cashew nuts with which their children can attend school for studying rather than working at farms, just as Luxlie managed to get hold of an opportunity for new life after having lived in the midst of poverty and depression.

Cashew nuts, culturing the dreams of adolescents

• Chandra, a 25-year old youth belonging to a minority group living in Pumkoan village, had his father pass away due to illness when he was in the 4th grade in elementary school. His mother could not get a job due to her old age and had to quit school as he had not enough money to buy even notebooks and pencils given the extreme poverty of his family with younger sibling. Dreaming was an extravagance not allowed for Chandra with no land for farming, livestock and proper school education.

• When, one day in 2018, World Share established a cashew nut processing factory in this highly remote Pumkoan village. Putting up a factory in the remote Pumkoan village that can only be reached through 9 hours of drive along unpaved road from the nearest city was simply unimaginable.
  Shortly thereafter, Chandra’s heart began to pound quickly at the news that “cashew nut factory is recruiting people to work at the factory.”

• As such, Chandra began to work sincerely at the cashew nut factory established in the Pumkoan village for the first time with duties including peeling the shells off and cleaning cashew nuts after having undergone basic training. He has now become a highly reliable worker and manager at the factory.With the wages he earned, he provided support for his younger sibling’s education and took care of the livelihood of his family, and was even able to purchase few piglets with savings he made. As pigs are one of handful of livestock that can live on their own even without being fed separately in the Pumkoan village where the residents go hungry without even a meal a day during austerity season of the year, they became highly valuable assets for the residents.

• Although Chandra currently has only 3 piglets, he is now able to dream of better future by working sincerely at the factory and raising the piglets in a small shed at his home. Chandra is now pondering over the things he wants to do in the future.Once Chandra manages to save substantial sum of money, he wants to purchase small parcel of land to grow cashew nuts. He wants to study more and help his less fortunate neighbors as well.Please give support for the dream of this 25-year old youth who wants to share the income he earned ardently with less fortunate neighbors even though his situation is still quite difficult as well. With the fair trade premium of cashew nuts generated through your purchase, it is possible to provide more extensive support for larger number of laborers belonging to minority groups at the cashew nut factory in Pumkoan village where Chandra is working.

Children being increasingly more distanced from school

• There is only 1 school in the Pumkoan village where more than 100 children are studying. Since the school only has 2 classrooms, students of 3 different grades are placed in the same classroom and use the front and back of the blackboard separately for studying.When busy farming season approaches, children in the 5th and the 6th grades go to the field to provide helping hand to their parents in the Pumkoan village. On the average, about 60 out of 100 students regularly attend the school. Given such situation, it is barely possible to hold classes only in the morning during the busy farming season.

• Children are required to work in the field without being fed even a meal a day and increasingly becoming more distanced from education. Since majority of farmers sell their produce at very low price without being able to process them, they believe the labor by their children is inevitable to obtain larger harvest for more income. Given such situation, it is barely possible to hold classes only in the morning during the busy farming season. Children are required to work in the field without being fed even a meal a day and increasingly becoming more distanced from education. Since majority of farmers sell their produce at very low price without being able to process them, they believe the labor by their children is inevitable to obtain larger harvest for more income. 

• Small change that cashew nuts broughtSmall change that cashew nuts brought
  Cashew nuts are generating small yet highly significant changes in the Pumkoan village. By paying justifiable price for cashew nuts to the minority group farmers growing cashew nuts, farmers do not have to subject their children to hunger even without having to have them to work in the field and the fair trade premium being paid additionally is used as the fund for advancement of the community to establish cashew nut processing factory and to support facility in which the children can access education under proper environment in the Pumkoan village.This year, World Share, which is an international development NGO of Korea, supported establishment of factory capable of processing cashew nuts in the village to offer jobs to the village residents and system for purchasing of cashew nuts at much better price.

• Provide support in order for them to dream better future.
  Revenues generated from fair trading of cashew nuts produced in the Pumkoan village is used for remodeling of the school. It is now possible to provide proper desks and new classroom for children who had to study in clusters in small classrooms, thereby receiving proper education until afternoon. It is very important since education is the most important tool that enables children to dream of better and bigger future. Please support cashew nuts of Pumkoan village in order for children to live like children and enjoy proper educational environment without having to be engaged in labor.