Agricultural policy and administration

The agriculture sector continues to play a vital role in Cambodia’s economy and society, contributing 22 percent of country’s Gross Domestic Product, providing livelihood of 76.2 percent of rural population, and employing 37 percent of total population​.^{1 2 3}

Key actors 

The Government ministries, internal and external donors play a key role in the development of agriculture, policy formulation, implementation, and coordination. Four main responsible government institutions which directly involve in development of Agriculture with overlapping roles. 

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) focuses on food security, agricultural research, market access, land and fisheries reform, and sustainable forestry. 

• Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRAM) emphasizes water resource management, flood and drought control, water sustainability, and information management. 

• Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) works on agricultural enhancement, poverty reduction, rural infrastructure, and socio-economic development, though it lacks a comprehensive policy. 

• Council for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) coordinates agriculture and rural development efforts, focusing on food security, agricultural productivity, rural development programming, and involving civil society and development partners.​⁴ 

Development partners, including over 20 donors, play an important role in Cambodia’s Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD). Key contributors include United Nations agencies, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank. The ADB is the largest donor, focusing on water, irrigation, rural development, and food security. The European Union and its Member States, along with countries like Australia and Japan, also provide significant support, particularly in natural resources, livelihoods, and water management​.⁵

Policy Trend 

The first legislature of the Royal Government of Cambodia, established in 1993, included several national policies and plans aimed at lifting the country out of poverty and placing it on a path of sustainable growth. Given agriculture’s great potential, increasing productivity can enhance sustainable outputs, create jobs, and generate incomes, thus helping to alleviate poverty. Consequently, the government’s development policies focus on agriculture and rural poverty reduction, with several changes in Cambodia’s Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) policy over the years.​⁶

In the late 1990s, two national policies were implemented: the first five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP I) and the National Programme to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia. These policies focused on optimizing natural resource use and promoting subsistence agriculture to stabilize and develop Cambodian society​​.⁷ With the achievement of full peace and security in 1999, the government had more room to boost the nation’s economy by promoting various important sectors such as industry, agriculture, and tourism​​.⁸  

From 2000 to 2005, two more policies were formulated: the Second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP II) and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS). In 2004, Cambodia established the comprehensive policy known as the “Rectangular Strategy,” designed to promote growth, employment, and efficiency. The Rectangular Strategy focuses on “Good Governance” and prioritizes the enhancement of agriculture. This policy serves as the foundation for the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2006-2010 and its update for 2009-2013. In 2010, the government introduced a policy to boost rice production for export, “the Promotion of Paddy Rice Production and Export of Milled Rice”, aiming a position of Cambodia as a major global exporter of milled rice. The goals of this policy are to diversify economic growth, ensure equitable distribution of economic benefits, and promote the export of other agricultural products like rubber​.⁹

In 2004, Cambodia established the comprehensive policy known as the “Rectangular Strategy,” designed to promote growth, employment, and efficiency. The Rectangular Strategy focuses on “Good Governance” and prioritizes the enhancement of agriculture. This policy serves as the foundation for the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2006-2010 and its update for 2009-2013. In 2010, the government introduced a policy to boost rice production for export, “the Promotion of Paddy Rice Production and Export of Milled Rice”, aiming a position of Cambodia as a major global exporter of milled rice. The goals of this policy are to diversify economic growth, ensure equitable distribution of economic benefits, and promote the export of other agricultural products like rubber.​​¹⁰

National agricultural development policy 2022-2030 

The national government aims, with the new policy, for Cambodia to be among the world’s top ten agricultural producers and to support the country’s goals of becoming an upper-middle-income nation by 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050​​.¹¹ Additionally, it aims to increase agricultural value added by 3 percent each year​.¹²

The vision for the National Agricultural Development Policy is that the agriculture sector to be modern with competitive, inclusive, resilient and sustainable aims to generate more incomes for farmers and enhance the prosperity and well-being of Cambodian people, with 4 main policy themes (1) Modernizing, commercializing the agricultural value chain, (2) Public and Private investments on agricultural sector, (3) Growing sustainably and increasing resilient on climate change and (4) Institutional reform and cross-cutting issues. There are four associated strategic objectives in order to address the policy themes. The Policy includes 4 strategic objective: 

• Strategic Objective 1: Enhance the competitiveness of agricultural value chains.
• Strategic Objective 2: Increase support for infrastructure in agriculture and agri-business facilitation.
• Strategic Objective 3: Promote sustainable land, forestry and fishery resource management.
• Strategic Objective 4: Strength institutional management and regulatory reforms, human resource development and address emerging challenges​.¹³

National Cashew Policy 2022-2027

Cambodia’s agricultural products, including cashew nuts, are typically exported unprocessed, resulting in low value addition for Cambodia. These products are then processed in other countries before exported for consumption. Therefore, the National Cashew Policy has been implemented in order to promote the growth of the market access in terms of quality and food safety, productivity, and diversification of potential crops.

The vision of the National Cashew Policy is to develop cashew production, processing and markets to ensure sustainability and economic diversification through inclusive competitiveness. The policy aims to make Cambodia a leading producer and supplier of cashew products for local, regional, and global markets. The policy has set three main goals in order to achieve the vision: 

1. To improve the production and the quality of products to remain competitive in the market. 
2. To promote industrialization to increase the value-added of cashew processing by 25% by 2027 and at least 50% by 2032. 
3. To grow exports through market diversification, inter-sectoral export linkages, trade facilitation, production cost reductions, and leveraging market advantages.¹⁴ 

Promotion of Paddy Rice Production and Export of Milled Rice

In 2010, with the vision of transforming Cambodia into “Rice basket” and a major rice exporter globally, the Royal Government of Cambodia established the policy “Promotion of Paddy Rice Production and Export of Milled Rice”  considering 2015 as target year, aiming to achieve paddy more than 4 million tons rice surplus and achieve the milled rice export of 1 million ton at least and ensuring the recognition of  Cambodian rice​.¹⁵

In 2015, Cambodia produced 9,334.3 million tons of paddy rice, increasing to 11.6 million tons of paddy rice in 2022​​.¹⁶ Cambodian rice has been recognized “World’s best rice” five times with Phka Romduol rice variety at World Rice Forum and Sen Kra Ob rice won the gold medal in in the international rice competition in China​.¹⁷

Related to Agricultural policy and administration

• Agricultural commodities, processing and products

• Agricultural production

• Agriculture and fishing

Last updated: 12 June 2025