TA to Help Build Understanding of Poverty around Tonle Sap, Cambodia

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (4 June 2004) - ADB will help Cambodia build an authoritative knowledge base on poverty around the Great Lake Tonle Sap, through a technical assistance (TA) grant approved for US$250,000.

The grant, from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund financed by the Government of the United Kingdom, will study the people's responses to poverty in the Tonle Sap region, illuminating its nature and the impacts of policies, institutions, and processes that either include or exclude the poor from development.

The study teams will explore key issues by social group, culture, gender, age, occupation, and other dimensions of difference that are of local importance.

The TA will study six to ten sites from each of the six provinces surrounding Tonle Sap to reflect different ecological zones and socioeconomic conditions.

"The study is expected to help develop sustainable poverty reduction strategies based on policymakers' improved understanding of what the poor need," says Manoshi Mitra, an ADB Senior Social Development Specialist.

"Participatory poverty research allows people to be heard on urgent issues and, thus, influence policymakers."

Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and supports one of the richest capture fisheries in the world. The lake meets the livelihood needs of at least 15% of the total population and the nutrition-related needs of about 80%, particularly the poor.

But despite the lake's rich resources, extreme poverty exists in the surrounding provinces. Poverty reduction efforts are limited by the dearth of knowledge on specific aspects of poverty and vulnerability around the Tonle Sap.

While there are quantitative estimates of poverty in the area, the Government and external funding agencies have stressed the need for qualitative data gathering and analysis.

"Livelihood improvement has to start with an understanding of the poor people's environment, firsthand knowledge of which can only come from the poor," says Ms. Mitra.

"Opportunities and spaces for local communities must be created so they can be heard."

The first participatory poverty assessment in Cambodia was conducted in 2000 with ADB assistance for the Second Socio-Economic Plan (2001-2005).

The new participatory poverty assessment is being carried out in conjunction with the Third Cambodia Socio Economic survey, which is aimed at providing a strong quantitative analysis of poverty in Cambodia

The World Bank and ADB are working in close partnership to develop common methodologies for such participatory poverty assessments. The ADB TA will be carried out in close partnership with the World Bank's study on Moving Out of Poverty, and both are expected to contribute qualitative data, towards the preparation of the National Poverty Assessment in Cambodia in 2005, and the next National Poverty Reduction Strategy. The timing of the PPA is significant as the Third Cambodia Socio Economic Survey is currently underway (2004-5) which will provide the quantitative analysis of poverty for national poverty estimation and planning.

The Ministry of Planning will execute the TA, which is due for completion in March 2005. The Government is contributing $50,000 toward the TA's total cost of $300,000.

Read the full TA report.

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