future solutions now - the tonle sap initiative december 2004

ADB MEKONG DEPARTMENT 1

The Transition of the Tonle Sap

Boeng Tonle Sap, the largest permanent freshwaterlake in Southeast Asia, is a unique hydrological andecological phenomenon.

In the wet season, when the rising waters of theMekong River cause the Tonle Sap River to reverse itsflow and flood the lower reaches of the Tonle SapBasin, the lake expands from about 2,500 squarekilometers to as much as 16,000 square kilometers.

This cycle and the vast area of seasonally inun-dated flooded low forest and shrubs that it createsresults in a very high diversity of fish, reptile, bird,mammal, and plant life. The lake’s biodiversityunderpins the livelihoods of much of the onequarter of the population that lives in the fiveprovinces that abut the lake (about 2.9 million peopleat the last census in 1998, of which 340,000 peoplelive in the immediate surrounds of the lake) andsupplies up to 70% of the protein intake ofCambodia’s young and rapidly growing population asa whole. As a regional resource, the lake is theseasonal breeding, nursery, and forage grounds forfish that subsequentlymigrate to theMekong River andmany tributary riversalong the way; and areservoir from whichwater drains in the dryseason to controlsalinity intrusion andconserve mangrove inthe Mekong Delta. Itis an environmentalhotspot of globalsignificance and hasthe status of aninternationalbiosphere reserve. Itis adjacent to thetemples of Angkor, aWorld Heritage siteof global culturalimportance.

But populationand development

pressures are taking their toll and the Tonle Sap is incrisis. So too are those who live from it. Threatsinclude overexploitation of fisheries and wildliferesources, encroachment during the dry season, andcutting of the flooded forest, leading to severe andrising levels of poverty and a pending environmentaldisaster. In the lakeside provinces of Battambang,Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Thom, Pursat, andSiem Reap about 38% of the population fall underthe official poverty line, the highest proportion in thecountry. Ominously, 50% of villages have 40–60%of households living below the poverty line, with apeak of 80% in parts of Siem Reap and KompongChhnang.

In 2004, the Asian Development Bank and theMinistry of Rural Development collaborated underthe Tonle Sap Sustainable Livelihoods Project tosustain and improve livelihoods within the floodedareas of the Tonle Sap. This joint effort featured aSustainable Livelihoods approach that focused onbuilding on assets identified by the communitiesthemselves. The approach yielded new ideas for directand indirect support to asset accumulation that couldincrease the effectiveness of development assistance.1

1 Details of the survey are at The Tonle Sap Initiative: Future Solutions Now (available www.adb.org/Projects/Tonle_Sap/).

Tonle Sap SustainableLivelihoods

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ClimateChange

CumulativeImpact of Built

Structures on theHydrology of theMekong Basin

Deforestation ofthe Watersheds

AgriculturalExpansion

Industrial andUrban Pollution

Conversion of theFlooded Forestto Agriculture

Overexploitationof Fisheries and

Wildlife Resources

AgriculturalRunoff

Mining HabitatFragmentation

Collection of FuelWood from theFlooded Forest

Introduction ofNon-Native

Species

Threats to the TThreats to the TThreats to the TThreats to the TThreats to the Tonle Saponle Saponle Saponle Saponle Sap

2 ADB MEKONG DEPARTMENT

The Sustainable LivelihoodsFramework

A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets, andactivities required for a means of living. A livelihoodis deemed sustainable when it can cope with andrecover from stresses and shocks and maintain orenhance its capabilities, assets, and activities both nowand in the future, while not undermining the naturalresource base.

Sustainable Livelihoods approaches2 are based onevolving thinking about poverty reduction, the waythe poor and vulnerable live their lives, and theimportance of structural and institutional issues.They suggest development activities that are• people-centered,• responsive and participatory,• multilevel,• conducted in partnership with both the public and

private sectors,• dynamic, and• sustainable.

The Sustainable Livelihoods framework helps toorganize the factors that constrain or enhancelivelihood opportunities and shows how they relateto one another.

Livelihood assets can be divided into five types ofcapital• human capital, e.g., skills, knowledge, good health,

and ability to labor;• social capital, e.g., networks and connectedness,

formalized groups, and relationships of trust;• natural capital, e.g., natural resource stocks from

which resource flows and services useful forlivelihoods are derived;

• physical capital, e.g., transport, shelter andbuilding, water supply and sanitation, energy, andaccess to information; and

• financial capital, e.g., available stocks and inflowsof money.Sustainable Livelihoods approaches facilitate the

identification of practical priorities for actions that arebased on the views and interests of those concernedbut they are not a panacea. They do not replace othertools such as sector-wide approaches and integratedrural development. However, they make the connec-tion between people and the overall enablingenvironment that influences the outcomes oflivelihood strategies. They bring attention to bear onthe inherent potential of people in terms of theirskills, social networks, access to physical and financialresources, and ability to influence core institutions.

Appreciative Inquiry, originally developed as a toolfor industry to avoid negative approaches to problemsolving, extends this constructive outlook. Apprecia-tive Inquiry is a highly inclusive process in which acommunity takes responsibility for generating andgathering information and then forms strategiesbased on the most positive experiences of the past.

From April to July 2004, consultants to ADB andstaff members of the Ministry of Rural Develop-ment conducted a survey in 32 communes within11 districts of the five provinces that adjoin the TonleSap. More than 673 people (including 318 women,25 ethnic Vietnamese, and 48 ethnic Cham) partici-pated. They received compensation on a par with3–4 days of work.

The survey buttressed Sustainable Livelihoodsapproaches with Appreciative Inquiry. Participantsenvisaged how they could expand their community’spotential and determined how best to plan for

2 The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom has established a learning platform for creating sustainable livelihoods at Livelihoods Connect(available www.livelihoods.org).

Sustainable Livelihoods FrameworkSustainable Livelihoods FrameworkSustainable Livelihoods FrameworkSustainable Livelihoods FrameworkSustainable Livelihoods Framework

Source: Department for International Development of the United Kingdom.


realizing it. New and different images of eachcommunity were revealed. Entry points for sustain-able livelihoods were developed.

“It is hard to imagine that we can improve ourown lives. But if we look back on how they oncewere, it is easier to think of how they might againbe,” said a survey participant.

The survey was termed purposive participatoryrural appraisal because of the emphasis placed onstrengths rather than on weaknesses, and the desireto look to the future in terms of those strengths.

“This is the first time that people from differentvillages have been able to work with one another andfocus on the strengths that we have rather than onthe weaknesses everyone, including ourselves,thought we had,” remarked a village elder.

Livelihood Assets

Human CapitalHuman capital is the sum total of skills, aptitudes,knowledge, experience, ability to labor, and goodhealth that enable people to pursue differentlivelihood strategies to achieve livelihood outcomes.

Why, survey participants asked of themselves andothers, could they—whose ancestors built thetemples of Angkor—now not make their communi-ties better places in which to live? They once caughtplentiful fish, gathered as many non-timber forestproducts as they needed and, in most years, grewenough rice to feed all households. Food security wasnever an issue. The feeling that the world has becometoo complex for them to understand is challenged bytheir recognition that the lives of their ancestors werealso not without great challenges.

Thankfully, there is still considerable human capitalin the Tonle Sap region. Communities still haveenviable skills, knowledge, and ability. But, they now

find that these do not equip them sufficiently to meetrapidly changing needs. Access to radio and televisionis a daily reminder that they must have moreadvanced education and training.

Survey participants recognized that their humancapital deficits relate to• how to add value to fishery products,• how to conduct small-scale livestock raising and

fish-cage culture,• how to access potable water, and• how to reconcile immediate consumption with

sustainable use of natural resources.

Social CapitalSocial capital consists of the stock of active connec-tions among people: the trust, mutual understand-ing, and shared values and behaviors that bind themembers of human networks and communities andmake cooperative action possible.

Cambodians hold social capital in high regard,irrespective of income level, gender, or ethnicity.All prefer to rely on their community than to seekassistance elsewhere. And, notwithstanding distresssales of livelihood assets, no one wants to see fellowvillagers suffer unduly.

“Outsiders may not like the Cambodian villagebut it has been our home for as long as we canremember. Even though life is sometimes difficult, itis where we want to stay because we find ways to livewith one another that we cannot find elsewhere.What we must do is find additional ways to make iteasier for us to live in the village,” observed a surveyparticipant.

Human development is about improvingordinary people’s lives by enlarging theirchoices and helping them realize theirfull human potential. In 2004, Cambodiaremains one of the poorest countries inthe world, ranking 130 out of 177 in theHuman Development Index.

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Networks and connectedness, membership ofmore formalized groups, and relationships of trust,reciprocity, and exchanges determine how people canwork together in pursuit of livelihood outcomes.Communities know of prohibitions on the use ofillegal fishing gears. They look for the structures andprocesses that would enable them to abide or enforceregulations.

“Our traditions tell us that if we respect sacredforces such as the neak taa (spirit of the land), we willnot experience the calamities that we confront today.In the village, the neak taa protects us all but it alsopunishes those of us who abuse local resources.We should safeguard our traditional beliefs andknowledge because they provide us with a guide asto how to live harmoniously with one another,”asserted a villager.

Vertical patronage networks exist. They includefood-for-work programs to construct or rehabilitateirrigation canals, intravillage roads, school buildings,and health centers. Increasingly, such networksinvolve political support to patrons who are electedto the National Assembly. These patron-clientrelationships often appear to be a more dominantforce than the rule of law. Patronage is also providedto individual households in the form of emergency

assistance after house fires or crop failures.Commonly, households routinely participate in

reciprocal labor exchange to transplant and harvestpaddy, women band together to collect non-timberforest products from the flooded forest, and entirevillages move to catch fish during the dry season.New horizontal networks in the form of VillageDevelopment Committees have also emerged. Insome communities they have created an enablingenvironment for women to be heard. In others, theyoperate at non-village level through their CommuneCouncil to generate or ratify development activities.

Why then do the poor and vulnerable end up onthe streets of Phnom Penh? Initially, survey partici-pants affirmed that they had little social capital at theirdisposal. Yet, as the survey progressed, they began todiscuss possibilities for establishing small-scalesavings and credit groups. They recognized thatestablishing such groups was not so different fromthe vertical and horizontal networks that providesafety nets.

The communities of the Tonle Sap region have farto go before they can enjoy the kinds of livelihoodoutcomes that they had in the past. They welcomelessons from elsewhere but expect outside experts todemonstrate intimate knowledge of social networksin Cambodia before they make recommendations.Those who disparage this point deepen dependency.

Natural CapitalNatural capital is the stock of both renewable andnon-renewable resources, as well as environmentalservices, from which livelihoods are derived.

Apart from the abundance of fish in the TonleSap—which makes it the most productive freshwatercapture fisheries in the world—the flooded areas arerich in natural assets that, if properly managed, canprovide sustainable livelihoods for all. The floodedforest can supply building materials and fuel wood aswell as a wide range of non-timber forest products,to which value can be added. The flooded areas andthe receding floods provide fertile paddy fields withinwhich there is also a rich harvest of fish, crabs, frogs,snails, ants, herbs, and plants to supplement the diet.

The simple act of joining and beingregularly involved in organized groupshas a very significant impact onindividual health and well-being.


But, evidence points to a grim future. Average fishcatches are smaller, the share of larger species in thetotal catch volume is in sharp decline, and the catch ofmedium-sized fish is showing a decrease. In 2004, thefish catch dropped to 250,000 tons from vertiginouspeaks of 300,000–400,000 tons in recent years. Andthe flooded forest, which stimulates fish reproduc-tion, shows unabated and dramatic decline. Itoriginally extended over 1 million hectares. By the1960s, this had been cut to about 615,000 hectares.In 1991, the flooded forest was estimated at362,000 hectares. Land use data now suggests thatonly 239,000 hectares remain.

“In the 1960s, and even as recently as the 1980s,we could catch so many fish that we alwaysreturned to the water the very small ones or thosefish we did not want to eat. Today, as we talk toyou, look at how much fish we can catch. There arehardly enough fish to feed the family let alone sellin exchange for other necessities. But we knowthere are enough fish to be caught: the problem isthat some people catch more fish than they need,using techniques that mean even the smallest fishis caught,” said a fisherman.

Commercial fishing lots claim significant areas ofthe lake. Although these are now subject to reforms,there is dismay at how long these have been going onor indeed whether change will occur at all. Surveyparticipants, except those involved in operating thefishing lots or in their seasonal construction, declaredthat abolishing the lots would improve theirlivelihoods.

Communities should be supported in their claimto greater ownership of natural resources that arecritical to livelihoods. Attempts to help establishcommunity fisheries and community forestryorganizations are a step in the right direction, butthese alone are not sufficient. Such organizations arenow under-resourced—often lacking basic equipmentsuch as boats or motorcycles—and not all communitymembers have been encouraged to participate actively.There is also a need for practical community-basedmanagement guidelines and for supportive legisla-tion.

In the initial stages of the survey, especially atpredominantly Khmer locations, participants blamedeveryone but fellow villagers for the decline infisheries. The ethnic Vietnamese were often the focusof this blame (although not in non-fishing villages)as were larger-scale, noncommunity-based fisherfolkand executive agency officials. Yet there was someconcession that not all ethnic Vietnamese—especiallylong-term residents—seek to overexploit fishingresources. At the end of the survey, Khmer fisherfolkadmitted that community members do use illegalfishing gears or engage in destructive fishing practicesusing explosives, poisons, and electro-fishing. Theyclaimed that they had no choice.

Survey participants from non-fishing villages,especially land-poor or landless people, looked to theflooded forest as a natural resource that can beconverted into agricultural land. They found it

The bas-reliefs of the temples of Angkordescribe with astonishing accuracy theaquatic animals that teemed in thewaters of the Tonle Sap, from turtles tocrocodiles, from small fish to giganticones. The critically endangered Mekonggiant catfish can weigh 300 kilogramsand measure up to 3 meters in length.

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difficult to appreciate the resource flows andservices that it provides, least of all to fisherfolk.But in dialogue with the latter, they showedwillingness to examine ways to conserve theflooded forest provided their changing livelihoodneeds can be met. Indisputably, the key tosustainable livelihoods is to maintain the balancebetween fisheries and agricultural interests whilekeeping the system ecologically intact.

Physical CapitalPhysical capital provides the basic infrastructureand producer goods needed to support liveli-hoods and its lack is considered to be a coredimension of poverty. Without adequate access toservices such as water and energy, human healthdeteriorates and long periods are spent in non-productive activities such as the collection of waterand fuel wood. Without transport infrastructure,essential fertilizer cannot be distributed effectively,agricultural yields remain low, and it is difficult andexpensive to move limited produce to the market.

Lack of clean domestic water is a problem.Over 80% of households in the Tonle Sap regionrely on shallow dug wells or surface water sourcesand many travel long distances to the closestsource of supply, especially in the dry season. Sinceall these sources tend to be polluted, it can beassumed that at least 80% of households do nothave access to safe domestic water.

Survey participants recognized that theirphysical capital deficits relate to• fully staffed and equipped health centers;• access to safe drinking water, bathrooms, and

latrines;• improved roads; and• new or rehabilitated irrigation systems.

Physical capital can be expensive. At the outset ofthe survey, most participants assumed that thegovernment would pay for infrastructure. This iswhat they observed over the past decade. However,at the end of the survey, they asked how communi-ties could build physical capital if all stand to benefit.They spoke of voluntary associations. They sug-gested that Village Development Committees or

similar institutions could mobilize in-kind contribu-tions, perhaps with external assistance, to build andmaintain essential infrastructure such as intravillageroads and water supply systems.

The willingness of survey participants to consideruser involvement in the provision of infrastructureholds promise. Demand-driven approaches canensure that there are incentives for maintenancebecause of high levels of user investment in the formof labor and materials.

Discussions about physical capital havemoved from hardware to institutions.Provision of infrastructure must be ledby demand from intended users ormaintenance will not be carried out.


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Infrastructure can• reduce transaction

costs;• lower the cost of inputs;• facilitate trade flows;• enable individuals,

companies, and govern-ments to respond tonew types of demand;

• open up opportunitiesor make existing occu-pations more profitable;

• generate employment;• enhance human capital;

and• improve environmental

conditions.


“Money, says the proverb, makes money.When you have got a little, it is often easyto get more. The great difficulty is to getthat little.”

—Adam Smith

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Financial CapitalFinancial capital, i.e., the financial resources thatpeople use to achieve livelihood outcomes, isprobably the most volatile of the five types oflivelihood assets. It tends to be the least availablelivelihood asset of the poor. Indeed, it is because thepoor lack financial capital that the other types oflivelihood assets are so important to them. InCambodia, savings often take the form of jewelry,which has stood the test of time and remainedconvertible during crises. For most farmers, livestockis still a very important financial asset. Notwithstand-ing, it is now increasingly necessary to also have accessto cash.

Until recently, Cambodians preferred to deal inUnited States dollars or Thai bahts. But, as though toindicate confidence in the local currency, more andmore are willing to trade for goods and services inriels (KR), especially to meet immediate livelihoodneeds.

What can be done to build financial capital for thepoor? Since development agencies are not in thebusiness of handing out money to the poor andvulnerable, and demand outstrips supply in any case,increasing access to financial services is of specialimportance, particularly in the area of microfinance. InCambodia, however, people prefer to avoidmicrofinance institutions. This is partly because theyare risk-averse and partly because they cannot meetcollateral requirements. Unless people believe thatmicrofinance institutions will persist over time andwill continue to charge reasonable rates of interest,they will not entrust their savings to them or bereliable in making their loan repayments.

The Association of Cambodian Local EconomicDevelopment Agencies, which also operates as amicrofinance institution, is a case in point. It wasconstituted to help the poor and vulnerable butinability to comply with its terms and conditions canspell disaster, including loss of livestock, fishinggears, landholding, and the house.

The survey revealed a general preference forborrowing money from less formal sources, prefer-ably kin and neighbors or even wealthier villagers andtraders whose repayment terms are considerably moreflexible than those of microfinance institutions. Thesurvey also revealed that the ethnic Vietnamese are


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“Subject to a kind of disease, which atthat time they called lack of money.”

—François Rabelais

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less risk-adverse and that they prefer to use traders tomeet urgent livelihood needs.

A few nongovernment organizations also providemicrofinance. By preference, they target the very poorand vulnerable. In fact, however, non-poor house-holds often benefit most from such programs. But,this is more likely to be a function of deficient focus.The real problem, as seen by survey participants, isthat the nongovernment organizations, and notcommunities, manage the programs.

The size of the loans that survey participants takevaries. KR50,000 ($13) meets immediate livelihoodneeds for rice and other necessities. Only the verypoor take such loans out up to six times a year. At theother extreme, KR5,000,000 ($1,300) allows invest-ments in livelihoods activities that will increasefinancial capital. Only better-off households take outsuch loans. KR50,000 buys up to 50 kilograms of ricewhile KR5,000,000 buys large encircling gillnets tocatch higher-value fish in the Tonle Sap or a pair ofdraft animals and farming implements. Plainly,

livelihood outcomes from such loans are quitedifferent for the very poor and the better-off.

Credit schemes can materially improve thelivelihoods of the poor, especially if they areintegrated into a broader financial services package,i.e., as key components of a broader financial servicesinfrastructure. In such instances, revolving creditfunds providing seed capital to meet start-up costsfor equipment and training bode well. Higher still,village development funds can build physical capitalin the form of school buildings, intravillage roads,or adequate water supply and sanitation.


The Vulnerability Context

The vulnerability context defines the externalenvironment in which people exist. The conflict thatraged from the early 1970s to 1993—and continuednorthwest of the Tonle Sap until 1998—devastatedor traumatized entire communities. To this must beadded• critical trends, e.g., demographic, environmental,

economic, governance, and technological trends;• shocks, e.g., illnesses, floods, storms, and

droughts; and• seasonalities, e.g., prices, and employment

opportunities.At present, primary sources of vulnerability

include low fish catches, fires in the flooded forest(started to clear it for farming or charcoal), andflooding and drought (reportedly more difficult topredict than in the past).

Another major source of vulnerability is illness,which can strip households of livelihood assets.The main coping strategy is to rely on close kin,sympathetic neighbors, and wealthier villagers to

avoid at all cost the loss of fishing boats, draftanimals, and land.

Natural shocks that affect food security are now amajor problem for more than half of the house-holds in the Tonle Sap region. For the land-poor, ricedeficits may begin in August and extend until April.This makes worse their reliance on non-timber forestproducts.

The Transforming Structuresand Processes

StructuresStructures are the public and private sector organiza-tions that set and implement policy and legislation,deliver services, and purchase, trade, and perform allmanner of other functions that affect livelihoods.

Since 1993, the government has done a great dealto define the basic governance framework. As mightbe expected, it has provided a range of services tocommunities such as schools, health centers, all-


What can be done to buildstructures for the poor andvulnerable?

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weather roads, and irrigation systems. However, it hasbeen less successful with non-physical assets,particularly vis-à-vis natural and financial capital. Muchwork remains to be done on building structures forthe poor in these respects.

Few survey participants have witnessed anagricultural extension worker visit their village todiscuss agriculture-related problems, or a fisheriesspecialist visit to discuss how to improve fish catchesor add value to fishery products.

Three accounts from survey participants highlightthe questionable activities of some executive agencies.One group of ethnic Vietnamese fisherfolk told ofofficials (sometimes military) firing shots in the airand demanding that their boat heave to while theyhelped themselves to some of the catch. One groupof Khmer fisherfolk complained of officials finingthem before celebrating with wealthier fisherfolk.One group of Khmer women claimed that theyare visited on a regular basis by officials who beratethem for the untidiness of the place where theyprocess prahok (fermented fish paste) and warnthem of fines if they do not follow through onrecommendations.

Are there pro-poor structures in Cambodia? Mostexecutive agencies have embraced poverty reduction asa crosscutting theme but it is not always apparenthow they reduce poverty.

Survey participants did not consider the agricul-ture, forestry, fisheries, and even environmentalexecutive agencies that have made their presence felt atthe commune level to be pro-poor. They argued thatif the rhetoric of these agencies is pro-poor, thepractices of many of their officials are not. Theyrequested that these agencies demonstrate theircommitment to improving livelihoods and explainhow their processes have been made pro-poor.Likewise, they expressed no confidence in judicialbodies and thought that courts are where those withmoney and influence can legalize their plunder ofnatural resources.

Compared with most executive agencies, nongov-ernment organizations are seen as trying to be pro-poor in practice even if they are not always successful.They offer a range of programs that directly achievelivelihood outcomes. Many effective nongovernmentorganizations maintain a visible presence at all times.The highly effective nongovernment organizationsactively co-opt community members.

Survey participants appeared to know more aboutthe services offered by nongovernment organizationsthan those offered by executive agencies. Some ofthem even spoke of the kinds of services executiveagencies should—and should not—provide.

Village Development Committees have animportant role to play. However, to be truly effective,their capabilities as well as their horizontal networkingmechanisms vis-à-vis Commune Councils must beenhanced.

After seeking to understand how the private sectormakes investment decisions, survey participants sawno reason why a company such as the Mong RithyGroup could not investigate how livelihood activitiesin cattle raising can benefit both the poor andvulnerable and the company itself. They suggestedthat communities could undertake such investiga-tions jointly with the private sector. Similar pre-investment feasibility studies could be undertakenwith regard to fish processing or non-timber forestproducts.

Survey participants want policy makers toexperience life on and around the Tonle Sap. Policymakers can take trips on the Tonle Sap to see


multiple-engine boats equipped with illegal fishinggear operating late at night; ask armed personnelabout why they harass ordinary villagers; find outwhether or not ethnic Vietnamese do indeed over-fish; and speak to people who have migrated insearch of livelihoods. Merely calculating povertyheadcounts and then arguing nearly 40% of thepopulation lives on less than $0.65 a day is ameaningless abstraction to the poor and vulner-able.

Perhaps because of this distrust, it might beargued that the best pro-poor structures are createdby the poor and vulnerable in their communitiesrather than outside. These may include self-helpgroups focused on highly specific livelihoodoutcomes. Notwithstanding, the failure of elite-controlled governance arrangements does notnegate the need, at the national level, to• build structures that represent the poor,• reform structures that make policy and provide

services to the poor,• provide support to the establishment or

expansion of private sector organizations, and• support fora for decision making and action.

After the survey was concluded, many partici-pants saw considerable merit in purposive participa-tory rural appraisals being facilitated by their owncommunity on an annual basis. They would becomeable to review livelihood gains and losses and channelthis information into a commune- or district-leveldatabase that communities could access.

ProcessesProcesses embrace the laws, regulations, policies,operational arrangements, agreements, societalnorms, and practices that, in turn, determine the wayin which structures operate. Policy-determiningstructures cannot be effective in the absence ofappropriate institutions and processes through whichpolicies can be implemented.

Processes are important to every aspect oflivelihoods. They provide incentives that stimulatepeople to make better choices. They grant or denyaccess to assets. They enable people to transform onetype of asset into another through markets. Theyhave a strong influence on interpersonal relations.One of the main problems faced by the poor andvulnerable is that the processes which frame theirlivelihoods may systematically restrict them unless thegovernment adopts pro-poor policies that in turnfilter down to legislation and even less formalprocesses.

In October 2000, a Prime Ministerial decreereleased 56% (or 500,000 hectares) of the formercommercial fishing lot area to communities formanagement. There are now more than 160 desig-nated community fisheries (or 300 managementunits) in the fishing lot area released from commercialfisheries. The release of lots to communities shouldbenefit the latter if the resource is properly managed.

Survey participants from fishing villages are awarethat using illegal fishing gear will reduce fish catchesfurther. However, without these, they feel unable tocompete with those who, they presume, also useillegal fishing gear. The recent revision of the fisherieslaw and its sub-decree on community fisheries, whichawait consideration in the national assembly, areimportant transforming processes.

The social land concession program of thegovernment facilitates consultations with the landlessand land-poor. It provides an enabling environmentfor the poor and vulnerable.

Microfinance organizations need to adoptprocesses that allow a more flexible response tocommunities, such as extending microfinance facilitiesto savings and credit groups or other self-help groupswithout undermining their own liquidity.

The private sector often queries the government’spro-poor approach when transaction costs areconsiderably higher than in neighboring Thailand or

Why are processes important?


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3 The Tonle Sap Initiative is a partnership of organizations and people working to meet the poverty and environment challenges of the Tonle Sap.4 Details of these projects are at The Tonle Sap Initiative: Future Solutions Now (available www.adb.org/Projects/Tonle_Sap/).

Viet Nam. These include the excise on diesel fuel,which the private sector considers too high, and thecost of which, it says, is often borne by the very poorthat development is supposed to help.

Livelihood systems would soon cease to functionif it were not for the active involvement of women.Irrespective of their ethnic background, womengenerally work longer hours each day than men.They are less likely to be literate. They have a lowerprofile than men. Any new process that advancessocietal norms and beliefs in relation to womenwill achieve a marked improvement in livelihoodoutcomes.

Livelihood Strategies in a HighVulnerability Context

Current livelihood strategies often fail to achieve basiclivelihood outcomes. Food security is a major priorityand communities must, increasingly, diversify orstraddle across sectors. Food insecurity levels vary

from more than 80% of all households to as little as5% in some ethnic Vietnamese fishing villages.Within a Khmer commune, the range can be 15%–60% among villages.

Survey participants who grow rice would of courselike to increase production. However, most cannotrely on current landholdings to grow enough rice evenwith improved farming techniques and better qualityseeds. Current levels of extension service delivery areinadequate to help even those with sufficientlandholdings to build on strengths and maximizelivelihood outcomes.

To most survey participants, being able to increaseincome is the next priority after food security.Although more cash means better livelihoods, mostparticipants appeared reluctant to increase theirincome at the expense of other villagers.

It is possible for nonvillage-based wage labor(such as the young women working in Cambodia’sgarment assembly factories or the young peoplecrossing the border to work in Thailand) to remit anamount equivalent to KR100,000 ($26) a month.

Ethnic Vietnamese participants would like to beconsidered as Cambodians, stating that it is impracti-cal to return to a country in which they have nolivelihood opportunities.

Entry Points for SustainableLivelihoods

The survey suggested several entry points forsustainable livelihoods. They represent an earlyattempt to achieve synergies between the prioritiesidentified by community representatives and the typesof activity that would build on strengths andopportunities. Those listed below are by no meansexhaustive. Others are being addressed under thesuite of loan and technical assistance projects thatADB promotes under the Tonle Sap Initiative,3 such asthose for Tonle Sap Environmental Management,Improving the Regulatory and Management Frame-work for Inland Fisheries, Capacity Building of theInland Fisheries Research and Development Institute,Establishment of the Tonle Sap Basin ManagementOrganization, Developing and Testing Methodolo-gies and Tools for Environmental Education andAwareness, and Capacity Building for the Tonle SapPoverty Reduction Initiative.4


Establishing VillageDevelopment Funds

StrengtheningCommunity-BasedManagement ofNatural Resources

Improving AgronomicPractices and Small-Scale Irrigation

DevelopingPost-School Literacyfor Women

Supporting Self-HelpGroups

• To provide a sustainable mechanism forcommunities to self-fund development activities,e.g., maintenance of intravillage roads and paths,rural water supply, support for education(schools and teachers), and provision of safetynets to the poor and vulnerable, especially attimes of shocks

• To set in motion innovative livelihood improve-ment initiatives with a bias toward disadvan-taged groups

• To generate transparency and equity into issuessurrounding access to land and other naturalresources that create conflict and dispute invillages

• To improve sound management of naturalresources

• To achieve optimum production from local cropvarieties, especially rice, particularly duringfavorable seasons

• To make agricultural output more reliable withthe rehabilitation of existing or construction ofnew small-scale irrigation systems

• To provide women the opportunity to acquiregreater literacy in the Khmer language andthereby increase capacity to seek information,lobby, and set up new groups for genderempowerment

• To enable small groups (up to 20 members) towork with one another to pool savings toward arevolving credit fund or to access microfinanceprovider services

Entry PEntry PEntry PEntry PEntry Points foroints foroints foroints foroints forSustainableSustainableSustainableSustainableSustainableLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoods PurposePurposePurposePurposePurpose PPPPPotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomes

• Enhanced human and social capital and reduceddependency on external agencies

• Enhanced human capital by directly developingthe knowledge and skills of all groups tocontribute to planning at the village level

• Improved physical capital in terms of localinfrastructure

• Enhanced social capital through improvement inthe internal functioning of groups, e.g., reinforce-ment of relationships to better manage thephysical capital of villages

• Direct impact on the stock of natural capital byenhancing sustainable measures to improvenatural resource management

• Social capital, enhanced through supporting localgroups, can provide community-accepted leader-ship and management

• Improved natural and physical capital throughthe provision of inputs that ensure greaterhousehold food security

• Enhanced social capital through fostering WaterUser Groups and Pump User Groups

• Strengthened structures through involvement ofthe Ministry of Rural Development in culturalchange leading to social capital wealth

• Increased coordination of activities that allowsgaps in support efforts to be closed

• Enhanced social and human capital, especially forpoor and vulnerable women from all three ethnicgroups in the Tonle Sap region

• Enhanced social capital since women wouldbecome less economically dependent on men,leading to greater gender empowerment

• Lessening of social exclusion for many womengroups, including ethnic minority women

• Increased financial capital, especially of the poorand vulnerable

• Increased financial capital induced by the possibil-ity of financial savings

• Enhanced social capital through improvement ingroup formation and structure

• Increased financial capital through incomegeneration and scope to participate in externalactivities


Entry PEntry PEntry PEntry PEntry Points foroints foroints foroints foroints forSustainableSustainableSustainableSustainableSustainableLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoodsLivelihoods PurposePurposePurposePurposePurpose PPPPPotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomesotential Livelihood Outcomes

• Increased financial capital through enhancedmarket opportunities and subsector activitiesleading to the possibility of financial savings

• Enhanced natural capital, which will need soundmanagement to prevent overexploitation

• Direct enhancement of human capital, fromwhich economic growth potential can be realized

• Reduced vulnerability of those in the workplaceand workers’ enhanced knowledge of rights andobligations to employers

• A skilled labor force at the community level andfrom whom the community can also elicit advice

• Enhanced human capital through a reductionof vulnerability at times of low fish catch orflooding

• Maximized returns to communities fromnatural capital

Linking Villagers tothe Private Sector

ProvidingPost-SchoolingVocational Education

Adding Value toFish and Non-TimberForest Products

• To enable the private sector to drive povertyreduction, for instance, in the livestock sector butalso in other land and water-based enterprisesectors, through open and transparent linkagesthat are protected by appropriate legislation andpractices of engagement

• To compensate for the limited schooling ofmany in the Tonle Sap region

• To equip a new labor force with basic know-howand experience to add value to local industry andother economic activities

• To develop a “Living Skills” program related tolabor and migrant workers’ rights, economicdevelopment, and HIV/AIDS

• To add value to fish by introducing appropriatetraining in postharvest practices, for instance, inthe areas of fermenting and drying

• To generate higher economic returns from non-timber forest products harvested in the TonleSap region which, with careful management andprudent extraction, could have a significanteconomic value

IAN FO

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Acknowledgment

Barry Blake,Tatiana Gallego-Lizon, KeechHidalgo, DavidMoffatt, and ChouMeng Tarr helpeddesign thisbrochure.


For more information on the Tonle Sap Initiative, contact

C.R. Rajendran, DirectorOlivier Serrat, Senior Project Economist

Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources DivisionMekong DepartmentAsian Development Bank6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City1550 Metro Manila, PhilippinesTel (632) 632-6175Fax (632) [email protected]/Projects/Tonle_Sap/

Shyam Bajpai, Country DirectorPaulin Van Im, Project Implementation/Program Officer

Cambodia Resident Mission93/95 Preah Norodom Blvd.Sangkat Boeung RaingKhan Daun Penh, CambodiaP.O. Box 2436Tel (855-23) 215 805, 215 806Fax (855-23) 215 [email protected]/CARM

© 2004 Asian Development Bank

This publication was prepared by staff and consultants of the Asian Development Bank. The analyses and assessments contained herein donot necessarily reflect the views of the Asian Development Bank, or its Board of Directors, or the governments its members represent. TheAsian Development Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for anyconsequences of their use.

Front and back cover photos by Ian Fox

December 2004

future solutions now - the tonle sap initiative december 2004

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