Preface
The objectives of the Community-Based Rural Development Project in Kampong
Thom and Kampot in Cambodia were to increase food production and farm income and
increase capacity of the poor to use the services available from the Government and
other sources for their social and economic development. According to the present
assessment, the project’s support to farmers contributed to increased agricultural and
livestock production and better livelihoods through improved infrastructure work and
related access to services and markets. The project also made use of famer-to-farmer
extension methods which have spread beyond the immediate demonstration areas. It
was a front-runner in terms of putting Cambodia’s decentralization policy into practice.
There were some weaknesses in the hydrological and engineering design and the
site selection, which impacted on the functionality of irrigation systems. Operation and
maintenance of irrigation but also of roads remain a challenge, although the
sustainability of the extension services is likely to benefit from the emerging
commercialization, market linkages and resultant contract farming. The assessment
recommends that future IFAD projects pay more attention to the role of markets and
facilitate farmer promoters to become agricultural input suppliers, in order to strengthen
the rural development process.
This project performance assessment was conducted by Catrina Perch, Evaluation
Officer, with contributions by Steven Shepley, consultant (agricultural specialist).
Internal peer reviewers from the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD – Fabrizio
Felloni, Senior Evaluation Officer, and Miguel Torralba, Evaluation Officer, provided
guidance and comments on the draft evaluation report. Linda Danielsson, Evaluation
Assistant, provided administrative support to the evaluation.
The Independent Office of Evaluation is grateful to IFAD’s Asia and the Pacific
Division and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia for their insightful inputs and
comments at various stages throughout the evaluation process and the support provided
to the mission.