Snoul District, Kratie Province, 17 July 2018– A dialogue forum is organized to bridge cassava farmers who over years sell their harvested roots to unknown buyers without knowledge of end products and Green Leader laying a ground-breaking ceremony of its first starch processing factory on 2 April 2018.

The linkage between farmers and a processor in this area is a new history of Cambodia for the sustainable cassava development in accordance with the new vision of the Royal Government of Cambodia, through the Cassava Working Group chaired by the Minister of Commerce, recently endorsed the National Cassava Sector Policy.

The linkage is done through a win-win contract farming model aiming to scale up benefits of both parties and as a mean to mitigate production and market risks. In addition to direct individual benefits, the contract farming creates substantial values through the export of cassava starch and many high paid jobs for local skill labors.

Seeing shortcoming of the cassava production, Green Leader through the contract farming scheme, provides direct supports to contracted farmers to raise their productivity and address their financial difficulties through access to agricultural services and high quality of fertilizers on credit.

The contract farming once rolls out at a full scale in the upcoming harvesting season (November 2018 to April 2019) can secure the purchase of cassava roots for 400,000 metric tons from 1,000 households and export 100,000 ton of starch worth $52 million to global markets.

The cassava contract farming is a partnership scheme between UNDP, MoC and MAFF with Green Leader to promote cassava as a strategic crop of smallholder farmers and a source of Cambodian industrial development.