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The future is in the vegetable garden

© Susanne Hasman

When Uy Vannek left school at the age of 18 with only a third-grade education, no-one thought that she would one day go on to have her own farm, producing vegetables and poultry.

As a child, her family had to endure a poor standard of living. Money was so scarce, her family could not pay for Uy’s education, and she had to leave school early. As a farmer’s daughter, Uy did not have a lot of options.

In Cambodia, farming has traditionally been seen as men’s work, not a career suitable for women, who have instead been expected to take responsibility for housework and sewing.

Luckily for Uy and other women, the organization Ponleur Kumar is of a different opinion.

Vegetables and livestock on the agenda

Uy lives in Banteay Meanchey, a province in the northwestern Cambodia where Dan Church Aid has been working with the local organisation Ponleur Kumar.

Ponleur Kumar works to secure the rights of young women and children through counselling and education in order to attempt to help them avoid the traps of poverty and prostitution.

In 2008, with the support of the local village chief, Ponleur Kumar began to recruit women for training in agricultural skills. Having signed up, Uy began to learn how to grow alternatives to the traditional staple, rice, the basics of livestock husbandry, as well as learning how to grow herbs.

Having finished her training in January 2009, Uy is now into her first season of farming. She is producing various spices, herbs and salads, as well as raising poultry, which she sells to earn extra income for her family.

An unconventional choice

Agriculture is not a traditional choice of profession for Cambodian women. Historically and traditionally, their status in the family and community has derived from housekeeping.
When asked, however, Uy says, ”If I was given the choice today I would choose agriculture.”
She is proud to be in a position to take care of herself and her family, in spite of her low level of literacy.

Role model

Uy is aware that, within Cambodian culture, she is breaking new ground by undertaking work, which is traditionally undertaken by men:

”I am very happy to have this opportunity, and I would like to be a role model for other girls in the village,” she says. She goes on to explain that she would like to correct the prevailing misconception that women cannot work in agriculture.

As Uy explains: “There are still a lot of women, both elders and girls, that do not wish to work with farming, since it requires strong commitment and an ability to adapt to physical hardship which girls in general have not been required to display.”
In spite of such prejudice, she has managed to make a livelihood from agriculture.

As she begins to look towards the future, Uy is planning to take a loan from Ponleur Kulam to improve and expand her production.

Her goal is to help her family out of poverty:
”My hope for the future is that the farming of vegetables and livestock will get bigger in time so I will be able to support my family and send my little sisters to school,” she says.

By Pagna Sam and Liv Lading