Phnom Penh (FN), Mar. 24 – Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen shared six recommendations at the closing of an annual meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, held on Friday (Mar. 24) at the ministry.
The six recommendations are as follows:
1. Further promote the development of environmentally and sustainable agriculture and resilience to climate change. In this sense, agricultural development must have a clear plan that responds to the actual market needs. Poor households must be prioritized for access to sustainable agriculture through intensification. For sustainable agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture must pay attention to maintaining soil quality and saving water by using energy-efficient irrigation systems. For resilience to climate change, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology must prepare water conservation plans for the dry season and forecast floods in a timely manner.
2. Accelerate the planning and implementation of the Fourth Pole Economic Initiative in the Northwest to attract both local and foreign investors to promote production, processing and export of agricultural, aquaculture and livestock to international markets.
3. Carefully prepare a plan for the recruitment and deployment of agricultural officials to communes throughout the country as soon as possible in order to solve challenges for farmers in a timely manner.
4. Jointly implement the national policy on cashews in order to turn Cambodia into a cashew emperor. In order to achieve this goal, the relevant ministries and institutions must examine their roles and responsibilities and carry out collaborative work. The challenges of farmers and producers will be addressed in a timely manner by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.
5. Further promote the development of aquaculture, using water hybrids that are economically efficient and in high market demand, and strengthen the capacity of the private sector on quality and safety standards to develop fisheries value chains for export. At the same time, it is necessary to increase education, promote and encourage people to participate in the conservation of fishery resources in a sustainable manner, as well as to strengthen the prevention of fishery crimes and the implementation of the law by strengthening good cooperation with all stakeholders and providing alternatives to fishermen.
6. Encourage the timber industry to facilitate the import of wood products to supply domestic demand and provide various livelihood options to forest communities to reduce pressure on forest resources. With this, the relevant ministries and institutions, competent authorities and sub-national administrations must strengthen cooperation to jointly prevent and suppress forest crime and forest encroachment effectively. In this regard, law enforcement must cooperate inter-institutionally to investigate and identify the masterminds and channels behind land encroachment and deforestation and bring them to justice.
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