Farmers with HIV/AIDS Gain Confidence, Skills With Program

8 March 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / HIV/AIDS / Livestock farming / Organic farming / Priority health concerns / Public health / Rice
Agriculture & Agri-business / AIDS / CEDAC / farming / HIV / livestock / organic / organic produce / produce / Vegetables

Leng Sopheap used to wake up before the crack of dawn and walk with crates of vegetables from her farm to the nearby market underneath a blanket so her neighbors wouldn’t know they were buying produce from someone infected with HIV/AIDS. Not long after her early morning trips to the market, though, Ms. Sopheap, 47, who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2007, heard about a project aimed at helping infected people improve their livelihoods through farming. That’s when her luck changed. … Since 2005, Cedac staff members have trained 309 people – all of them infected with HIV/AIDS – in the practices of domesticating livestock, implementing new agricultural techniques and growing a wide range of organic produce, Cedac program officer Hour Sreng Said. “Already, farmers are selling more and gaining confidence,” Mr. Sreng said. …