Accelerating Sustainability in Cambodia’s Agri food System (ASCA)

The Challenge

Agriculture is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Cambodia, primarily due to rice cultivation, with an increasing reliance on fertilizers and polluting energy sources. Rural MSMEs face high operational costs driven by unstable energy access and inadequate irrigation systems, while food loss between harvest and retail reaches up to 30% due to poor handling and infrastructure.

This project tackles key challenges in Cambodia’s agri-food sector, including high emissions, inefficient agricultural practices, and economic instability among rural agri-MSMEs. It aims to support the decarbonization of Cambodia’s agricultural value chains by developing new carbon-based fertilizers and Green Agriculture Technologies (GATs), raising awareness among Agri-MSMEs, and scaling solutions through research, field trials, and promotional activities. It also focuses on reducing food loss by identifying and testing valorization technologies through pilot projects while driving demand for GATs and carbon-based fertilizers through marketing campaigns and financing mechanisms, including carbon credits.

The Objectives

The project aims to contribute to a sustainable agri-food system in Cambodia by integrating circular economy and resource-efficient practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while fostering economic growth in rural areas.

To achieve this, the initiative focuses on decarbonizing agricultural value chains by promoting the use of carbon-based soil solutions, encouraging rural MSMEs to adopt Green Agriculture Technologies (GAT), and advancing food loss valorization. Through these efforts, the project seeks to enhance sustainability, resilience, and efficiency in Cambodia’s agricultural sector.

The Way Forward

• Carbon-based soil and GAT solutions are understood, designed, and developed for existing and new target value chains
• Agri-food loss is mapped, quantified and piloted to develop valorisation strategies
• Agri-MSMEs and supply chain actors have improved awareness, capacity and access to the designed carbon-based soil and GAT solutions
• Carbon-based soil and GAT companies have increased business development capacity and access to green financing to facilitate scale up and long-term sustainability
• Cambodia’s agri-food sector has improved understanding of and ability to market carbon-based soil, GATs, and food loss solutions and their impact on the sector

Relation to European Green Deal, Circular Economy and Climate Change

The project strongly aligns with EU priorities, the European Green Deal, and efforts to tackle climate change through its impact on carbon footprint reduction, sustainable agriculture and land regeneration, green energy adoption and circular economy.