The Akphivat Srok Yoeung Cooperative was established through a consolidation of four self-help saving groups from four villages in Prey Chhor district, Kampong Cham province, Cambodia with technical support from a project of a local NGO called CEDAC since 2008. When the project was phased out, the self-help groups continue to grow organically and were able to overcome challenges.

In 2015, the Farmer and Nature Net (FNN) started to intervene and assist the members through a project called “Linking Organic Agricultural Products to Market (LOAPM) with financial support from AsiaDHRRA through the FFP project.

The community members realized that if they are not united, they are going to be poor and will have a weak position in terms of negotiation and development. They realized that they can be organized and that they can exchange learning and share experiences based on their common agenda and interests.

On December 2015, the Akphivat Srok Yoeung Cooperative was then formed and officially registered with the Kampong Cham Provincial Department of Agriculture. The cooperative started with 251 members (107 are female) with 4,148 shares or equal to KHR 165,920, 000 (USD 41,480). The number of members gradually increased. Currently, the coop has 263 members with 4,479 shares, which is equal to KHR 179,160,000 (USD 44,790).

The cooperative is governed by seven elected members of the Board of Directors, one of which is female. The cooperative also set up a controlling committee composed of 3 members.

Objectives of the Cooperative

  1. To mobilize local resources for better income generation through effective agri-investment in the cooperative
  2. To better manage and improve the activities of the community on production, processing, and business to better contribute to socio-economic and livelihood improvement of the cooperative members
  3. To empower the community members through negotiation and bargaining power in terms of market balance based on their strong solidarity spirit. 

Key Activities of the Cooperative

  • Rice business activities (contract farming): Through the cooperative, the community is able to consolidate their agri-products to be more effective in negotiating with private companies. With strong efforts of the cooperative and with support from FNN, the cooperative secured a rice business contract with Amru rice company through contract farming. This guarantees higher price of rice for the products of the cooperative.
  • Job creation and local labor capitalization within the community
  • Self-reliance development and sense of ownership
  • Socio-economic development and poverty eradication

Major Achievements of the Cooperative 

Before the establishment of the cooperative, most of the community members were selling their agri-products individually for a cheap price to middlemen because they did not have power to bargain. After the establishment of the cooperative, Amru rice company established a partnership with the cooperative in terms of contract farming focused on Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP). In 2017, the cooperative sold around 216 metric tons of paddy rice to Amru, which offered to buy the produce for higher price compared to what middlemen usually offer. The cooperative has been certified by Amru as SRP producer.  The company also offered a premium to the cooperative for around USD 10 per metric ton which enabled the cooperative to build up their institutional asset. Amru has also provided additional technical support for the cooperative including production techniques, certification, and other inputs. At present, there are 200 household producers of the cooperative under contract farming with Amru.

The cooperative works hard to bring progress to its members. Aside from their partnership with Amru, the cooperative also has its own rice mill for processing their rice produce and selling these out to local markets and even to major markets in Phnom Penh.

Major Businesses of the Cooperative 

  • Rice mill
  • Paddy rice and milled rice
  • Agricultural inputs supplies
  • Self-help saving and credit
  • Rice seeds production
  • Animal feed mill

Strengths of the Cooperative

  • More members put more shares into the cooperative for capital investment
  • The cooperative members get premium price for selling paddy rice to Amru
  • The cooperative became a center for members to sell their produce, which in turn is sold to Amru company
  • Members of the cooperative regularly receive capacity building training on agricultural techniques and inputs utilization based on the SRP standard of Amru
  • The cooperative also receives general support from the FNN through the FFP project of AsiaDHRRA with regard to production, processing, market linkages, leadership/governance, business plan and financial management standard, etc.
  • The cooperative has established cooperation with local authorities and relevant provincial departments such as the department of agriculture and commerce, micro-finance institutions and Rural Development Bank

Facilitating Factors for Development

  • The committee leaders and members of the cooperative are very committed to the development the community through the cooperative
  • Team work with strong solidarity spirit
  • The committee leaders and members became more committed because they receive incentive for their extra work through premium price from Amru company
  • More members of the cooperative came to understand the advantages of being a member of the cooperative so they put in more shares
  • The cooperative continuously receives advise and technical support from FNN
  • Cooperation and support from the Amru rice company based on mutual trust building
  • Cooperation and support from the local authorities, relevant provincial departments such as PDA, PDCOM, micro-finance institutions and Rural Development Bank

Points to be Improved by the Cooperative 

Despite having more cooperative members putting in more shares for bigger investment, the capital mobilized so far is not yet sufficient to respond to the market demands and competition. As a solution for this, the cooperative will:

  • improve strategic business plan to access market competition through improving processing capacity and functions of the mill and paddy dryer facility
  • increase quantity of agri-products of the cooperative (paddy rice production)
  • improve quality of agri-products of the cooperative (included packaging processes)
  • seek more markets/customers both inside and outside the province
  • improve mechanism of market supply chain and payment processes
  • improve hygiene and sanitation of the cooperative products and rice mill place
  • put more effort and commitment to mobilize resources from the members and other relevant stakeholders
  • improve financial management of cooperative
  • increase other agri-products of the cooperative such as vegetables and livestock to meet market demands
  • provide loans to members who need capital investment, etc.

Action Plan of the Cooperative

  • Produce and sell 600 metric tons of SRP paddy rice to Amru in 2019
  • Mobilize new 1,500 shares
  • Build a new warehouse for paddy rice stock
  • Build a paddy rice dryer facility
About MTCP2
The Medium Term Cooperation Program Phase 2 (MTCP2), a five-year capacity building program supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the European Union (EU), has been implemented in 19 countries across three sub-regions—Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific—engaging 1,544 sub-national farmers organizations (FOs) with total membership of around 22 million farmers. The funding support (total budget of $ million for the whole duration of the project across 19 countries) serves as a catalytic fund that will allow FOs to enhance their capacity to be effective channels of economic services to farmers. So far, the program has contributed to the formation of strong national platform of FOs with improved capacity to engage in policy processes and mobilize resources from mainstream agricultural development programs like extension services, credit, and pre and post harvest facilities. The program also helped in transforming farmers associations into commodity-based cooperatives to strengthen the role of small-scale farmers within an inclusive and sustainable value-chain. The program is being implemented by the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC).
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