FROM LEMON GRASS FOR FOOD TO MEDICINAL AROMANTIC OIL
The Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative found in 2010 only with 88 household members, 45 females. The cooperative started with the capital of 8,011,000.00 Riels about US$2003. The cooperative became a member of CFAP since 2017 after dissemination of CFAP’s activities, development programs and laws on agricultural cooperatives with farmers, farming communities, farmers’ organizations and agricultural cooperatives in the whole Cambodia.
The cooperative locates in Sambo village, Sopheas commune, Steung Strong district, Kampong Cham province. In 2023 the cooperative has a total member of 1989 households. The cooperative has different types of products such as lemon grass, vegetables and fruit trees with an average farm size of 2ha to 2.50ha per household. There are about 2000ha of farm land for multiple crops in the whole cooperative.
In the past, farmer members sold their produces individually which it was not easy for the cooperative to control the volume of products and also market management. In 2015 the The Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative found in 2010 only with 88 household members, 45 females. The cooperative started with the capital of 8,011,000.00 Riels about US$2003. The cooperative became a member of CFAP since 2017 after dissemination of CFAP’s activities, development programs and laws on agricultural cooperatives with farmers, farming communities, farmers’ organizations and agricultural cooperatives in the whole Cambodia.
The cooperative locates in Sambo village, Sopheas commune, Steung Strong district, Kampong Cham province. In 2023 the cooperative has a total member of 1989 households. The cooperative has different types of products such as lemon grass, vegetables and fruit trees with an average farm size of 2ha to 2.50ha per household. There are about 2000ha of farm land for multiple crops in the whole cooperative.
In the past, farmer members sold their produces individually which it was not easy for the cooperative to control the volume of products and also market management. In 2015 the cooperative had revitalized the marketing structure by focusing on collective purchases and sales of produces from farmer members for sales collectively to big companies and entertainment places in – Phnom Penh and some markets include big buyers and collectors approximately with amount of 500Kilograms to 800 Kilograms of lemon grass per day by self-transportation to supply clients directly from the agricultural cooperative collection center. Each family farmer has to bring produce to the collection center by himself/herself with respect to the quality sample provided by the agricultural cooperative.
Though lemon grass is a key product for the Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative, the agricultural cooperative has identified four main categorized products with farmer members as follow: –
1. Agricultural credit (provide small agricultural credit to family farmer members to expand their agricultural production to meet collective market demands)
2. Agricultural inputs sales to family farmer members and vice versa
3. Supply lemon grass, vegetables, paddy rice, rice seed, lemon grass oil and fruits to big buyers and clients.
4. Transportation services, and
Since 2019 till present, the Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative has increased number of farer members accordingly with also increased volume of lemon grass product as well. The suppling capacity reach 8000Kilograms to 10000Kilograms per day in the harvest season. In average the agricultural cooperative sold from 1000tons to 1300tons of lemon grass per year with total land size of 50 hectare for lemon grass production. The agricultural cooperative has contracted for sales of about 30 liters of lemon grass oil per month, 600tons of paddy rice and 400 tons of rice seed per year to clients and rice millers.
The agricultural cooperative, however has limited capital to purchase large volume of the products produced by family farmer members collectively while members produced hundreds of thousand tons of paddy rice, corn, fruits, cassava, coconut, mango, cashew, rubber, durian and jackfruit. For the rest of products not collect by the agricultural cooperative, then members can sell to buyers by themselves, except lemon grass which the agricultural cooperative collect from members for supplying markets regularly for big buyers and clients in Phnom Penh.
In the outbreak pandemic in 2020 till 2022, however the agricultural cooperative has been facing challenges on reduction of supplying amount, especially from March 2020 till end 2022 to target markets because the order amount for existing big buyers, companies and clients as well as entertainment places had informing the agricultural cooperative to limit order amount which it is required the cooperative to rethink and revitalize the marketing strategy in a new thinking way that can overcome challenges affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since early 2023 number of orders have increased notably from big buyers, vendors and clients in Phnom Penh while some entertainment places are still not able to reopen yet.
The agricultural cooperative is now under developing into a model farming agricultural cooperative which initiates by the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) for a period 2021 –2027 and in 2021. The Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative used to receive small loan from the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) with the amount of US$40780 to run collective vegetable business with farmer members within the ag cooperative during the ag cooperative was threatening by Covid-19 period.
According to experiences on markets for local produces, especially lemon grass, the Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative alone is not able to have achieved such a big mission for farmer members and the farming community as a whole it is required donors to support and other actors include youth and women to help to promote the promote the products heard to the public and clients broadly by means of presenting products to big buyers directly, short video through YouTube, Facebook and journalists. To do so, the agricultural cooperative can have achieved the market strategic action plan from very little markets for lemon grass farmers to big markets by using good markets engagement technique, and lemon grass not only for food, but also for medicinal oil and linking lemon grass to policy support in the future.
The Sambomeanchey Agricultural Cooperative works hard to sustain growth of lemon grass to be more resilient to climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and policy to support smallholders in the community, therefore the cooperative needs financial support to strengthen financial management, marketing management, processing/packaging, storage and machinery to serve storage or warehouse purposes for processing/packaging and transportation, and improvement the quality of lemon grass and lemon grass oil to meet higher market demands in the future.
The agricultural cooperative wishes to collaborate with big company leaders, financial institution(s) and development agencies to make effective and sustainable engagement between smallholders and traders to ensure a long-term sustainability of agriculture and rural work for the farming communities in Cambodia to ensure that the lives and livelihoods of farmers, smallholders, youth and women have improved better.