캄보디아 농촌개발 정책 및 전략수립

Abstract

최근 우리나라 해외농업개발의 투자대상지역으로서, 국제농업개발협력의 중점 협력국가로서 캄보디아 농업·농촌에 관한 이해가 중요해졌으며, 관련 연구 수요 또한 늘어가고 있다. 이렇게 늘어가는 연구 수요에 부응함과 동시에 캄보디아에 진출하고자 하는 농업 유관기관이나 관련 기업에게 보다 유용한 정보와 자료를 제공하기 위하여 2007년 7월부터 2년간 시행된 국제협력단의 ‘캄보디아 농촌개발 정책 및 전략수립사업’ 중에서 한국농촌경제연구원이 컨설팅한 분야를 재정리하였다.

The main objectives of the project were (a) To formulate government policy and strategy on rural development, (b) To contribute to poverty reduction and improvement of living standard for the rural people, (c) To strengthen the relationship and the cooperation of rural development between the two countries through the successful implementation of the Project The Project was officially started in July 24, 2007 and completed in July 23, 2009 according to the contract between Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) of RGC. In accordance with a Record of Discussion (R/D) signed on March 2007 by the representatives of both governments, the Project consists of four components, such as consultant mobilization, 2 times of workshop in Cambodia, invitation of trainees to R. O. Korea, and equipment provision. This work was implemented by the consortium between Korea Rural Community Corporation (KRC) and Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI).The specific work scope was:◦ To collect and analyze the existing data on rural situations by sub-sector◦ To review/analyze the existing government policies and strategies◦ To review the existing rural development plans/projects and programs; to review laws and regulations related to the rural development◦ To review and consult with other line ministries and institutions concerning the rural development policy and development study◦ To recommend development methodologies and priorities considering the existing conditions◦ To formulate rural development policy and strategy related to the rural development◦ To recommend revision or establishment of laws and regulations related to the rural development◦ To establish and recommend a master plan on rural development to related ministries and institutions including provincial departments◦ To enhance the capacity of central and provincial government officials on rural development programs/projects’ planning, implementation, O & M and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) through workshops, trainings and provision of equipments and vehicles, by sharing Korea’s experiences and knowledge on the concerned fields. RGC’s administrative body consists of 23 provinces, 1 municipality, 183 districts, 1,609 communes and 13,406 villages. The nation’s population was estimated to be 13.8 million in 2005. In 2004, the number of employed persons was 7.5 million which comprised of 60.3% in the agricultural sector, 12.5% in the industrial sector and 27.2% in the services industry. The 2004 population survey shows a peculiar phenomenon that 50.3% of the total population was below 19 years while 60.4% was below 24 years of age. The RGC is a multi-national country. The population of Cambodia consists of 90% Khmer, some 5% Chinese and Vietnamese, some Cham and Burmese, and about 24 ethnic minorities estimated to be about 200 thousands who mainly live in the north-eastern mountainous areas. According to a growing textiles and garments industrial sector and tourism service industry, the Cambodian economic growth has been growing strong in the last one and a half decade averaging over 8 percent per annum between 1994 and 2005 at constant 2000 prices, but narrowly based on a few urban centers such as Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. As a result, the benefits of growth have been largely unequally distributed within selected city areas with a small proportion of the population gaining more than others. Meanwhile, the recent global economic recession will influence the nation’s economic sector. The American economic situation will particularly affect the Cambodian textiles and garments industry which mainly exports products to the USA. The Asian countries’ economic stagnation will also affect the flow of tourists coming to the Angkor tour area. In view of this situation, the Cambodian economy will probably not improve for the better than before for the time being. The low rice farming productivity that contributes the larger part of income from the agricultural sector affects the national economic growth as well as the residents in the rural areas. The agricultural sector shared 31% of the GDP, and 60% of the total labor power employed in agricultural sector in 2005. Generally Cambodia could be categorized as an agricultural country with abundant agricultural acreage, but in reality the average family’s holding of farming land is some 1ha showing a family farming type, and the nation’s agri-products export is insignificant at the moment. The total agricultural land was 2.58 million ha in 2005. Out of this, 2.44 million ha, that is over 90% is paddy farming which is the main source of agricultural income as well as the most important economic activity in rural areas. The average rice yield per ha is 2.5 tons which is very low as compared to the neighboring countries of Vietnam and Thailand. Therefore, to reduce poverty in the rural areas, it is urgently recommended to increase rice productivity through improved irrigation systems which currently stand at a very poor 17% of irrigated land of the total paddy farms. The Cambodian annual agricultural products in 2005 are listed as: paddy some 6 million tons (some 2.5 tons per ha), cassava about 536 thousand tons, maize 248 thousand tons, soya beans 179 thousand tons, sugar cane 118 thousand tons, vegetables 173 thousand tons etc. Due to the limitation of funds on the side of the Cambodian rice processers and the lack of agricultural processing industries, raw materials such as paddy, cassava, etc. are taken across the border by merchants from Thailand and Vietnam. Some 84% of the Cambodian total population lives in rural areas. The GNP Per capita of rural residents was estimated at US$430 in 2005. The RGC economy has significantly developed since 1993, but the benefits of this economic growth have mainly been concentrated in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and other main cities. As a result therefore, the income disparity between the urban and rural population as well as between the wealthy and the poor has been largely deepened causing socio-economic conflicts. According to the RGC economic growth average of over 7 percent per annum during last decade, the proportion of people living under the poverty line has fallen by between 1 to 1.5 percentage per annum, for instance from 47% in 1994 to 35% in 2004. The proportion of people below the poverty line in 2003~2004 was 34.7%. The incidence of poverty in rural areas was much higher at some 39% as compared to 25% in the urban areas outside of Phnom Penh and 5% in Phnom Penh. According to a 2004 statistical survey, the proportion of people with food below poverty line ranked at 20% of the total. Geographically, the percentages were quite unequal with Phnom Penh at 3% and the rural areas at 22%. Other living status phenomena are as follows: a statistical survey in 2004 reported a 12% of farm landlessness and 46% of farm below 0.5ha of the total rural household. A high rural drop out rate of 10% at the primary level reflected the high cost of education for poor farming families. The literacy rate of the highland minority was 5.3% in male population as compared to 0.0% in their female counterpart in 2000. Only 8.5% of rural areas had access to electricity in 2004 and approximately 59.7% of rural households took unprotected dug well and river water in the 2004 survey. Until 1993, the rural development duties had been subjected to MAFF. After the 1993 general election, the Government set up new cabinet including the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) that controlled all matters related to rural development. According to the political stabilization, the Government had chances to receive the aids of rural development projects from IOs and NGOs. However, due to budget limitation, the MRD couldn’t implement any special rural development programs. In September 2000, the Government set up CMDGs similar to the MDGs of the UN. The CMDGs aimed at reducing poverty by half by the year 2015. In July 2004, the Government published the Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency in Cambodia (2004~2008), which was supported by UN Country Team. These reports were direct references to the NSDP, 2006-2010 which is the basic framework in the planing of socio-economic development in RGC. In April 2007, the Government issued the Cambodia Developing Rural Economy and Pro-Poor Growth Policies, which were supported by the UNDP and other agencies. The MRD designed the First Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan of the Ministry of Rural Development (1996~2000) in 1996, and the Second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan of the Ministry of Rural Development (2001~2005) in August 2000. Currently the MRD is planning the Third Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan of the Ministry of Rural Development (2006~2010), which will be an action plan of the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2006~2010. There are about 2,150 officials in total working in the central office of the MRD and 24 provincial offices of the PDRDs. Of the total, some 610 officials were stationed in the MRD and about 1,540 officials were positioned in the 24 PDRDs in 2008. In the same year the MRD’s allocated a total budget of about 26,691 US dollars whereby 1,882 US dollars was for general expenses, 6,001 US dollars for program budget and 18,808 US dollars for public investment. Up to date, about 35 IOs and NGOs have participated in the Cambodian rural development projects of rural road construction, drinking water supply, sanitation facilitation, rural credit and strengthening of the VDC with the sole aim of mitigating poverty and improving rural livelihood. In 2008 the MRD emphasis focused on 3 targets namely; human resource development, rural infrastructure development and rural economy and health improvement. To achieve the human resource development target, the MRD carried out domestic and overseas training for officials, technical and vocational training for rural residents, activities for ethnic minority and VDC strengthening activities. On the other hand, to accomplish rural infrastructure development target, the MRD carried out 99 lines (410.82km) of rural road construction, 217 lines (940.4km) of rural road rehabilitation, 172 lines (2,165.27km) of rural road maintenance, 39 units of bridge construction and 419 units of culvert construction. For the achievement of the third target of rural economy and health improvement, the MRD carried out 504 units of ring-well construction, 30 units of ring-well maintenance, 1,626 units of hand pump construction, 692 units of hand pump maintenance, constructed 3 concrete reservoirs and 44 units of pond construction. The MRD also implemented small scale irrigation systems in the form of dike construction in 3 places (3.65km), rehabilitated 1 dike (0.43km), made small scale irrigation reservoirs in 9 places (24.66km) and also rehabilitated 17 small scale reservoirs (28.17km). Moreover, the MRD carried out 45,673 units of latrine construction, 8,921 units of arsenic testing and instructed 174,250 rural residents on health and sanitation. In addition to this, the MRD facilitated micro credit of (5,645 million Riel, 2,923 Bath and 16,000 US$), a rice bank of 1,450tons, a cow bank of 1,823 heads and a fertilizer bank of 723 sacks. In accordance with the problems identified in the project, it is recommendable to prioritize some tasks in the Cambodian rural development as follows: First, there is need for the revitalization of the regional economy based on income generation related to agriculture and non-agriculture. The higher farm household incomes will motivate the rural residents to take part in the rural community affairs and rural development projects and programs. Secondly, the vitalization of the VDC should be taken as a priority in the rural development policy in Cambodia. The VDC is a focal organization in rural village development as well as a main strength in the village community affairs. It is reported that the current activities of the VDC are not very strong. Accordingly, to encourage the settlement of VDC to be a core authority in village development affairs, it is recommended that there should be an establishment of their legal status and the government’s official support as well. Then the VDC should be developed as organic systems in the rural community. If the VDC gain the legal status and the 13,400 villages in Cambodia get their VDCs, then, probably the nation-wide VDCs’ networks could be needed for efficiency in management and administration for VDCs’ sustainable activities. Thirdly, human resources should be developed. The human resource development (HRD) should target the central and regional officials participating in rural development affairs who need special knowledgement and technology on the planning, implementation, supervision, monitoring and evaluating the process of the rural development projects and programs. This HRD should aim at training leaders who will guide villagers in all rural areas of Cambodia and should also pay attention to rural residents who need training on the management of agricultural activities and seek off-farm jobs. Lastly, even though it will require a huge amount of money, rural infrastructure such as irrigation and drinking water, roads, housing, latrines, schools and markets should be developed as soon as possible. At the moment the RGC and IOs, NGOs and other development donors try to develop the rural infrastructure at their own endeavors, but they seemingly have limitations. The O&M of the rural infrastructure is more important than the construction itself. The rural infrastructure needs considerable O&M expenditures for sustainable use. The O&M should be carried out by the users themselves. Considering the current villagers’ incomes and awareness, they seem to have difficulties in sustainable operation and maintenance by themselves.Rural Infrastructure The NSDP stipulates macro goals and critical indicators for the rural road development to rehabilitate 25,000km by 2010 and 28,000km by 2015 respectively. Nevertheless, approximately 84% of the total rural roads are considered to be poor and in bad condition. The MRD has established and updated the Draft Rural Road Policy and Strategic Plan to achieve the NSDP goals. The Ministry has reached significant achievements such as updating the road inventory, developing the road prioritization tools, and establishing the rural road standards but it still needs sufficient legal, financial and institutional supports. The problems identified in the rural road development were (a) Lack of legal framework supporting the rural road development such as Road Law which is still unapproved, (b) Insufficient and irregular funding for rural road rehabilitation and maintenance. For example, approximately 56% of road development is dependent on the donor projects and the funding gap is estimated at US$17 million per year for maintenance and improvement of rural roads, (c) Weak support for institutional development particularly in the sub national levels and community levels for service delivery extensions in line with the D&D framework. The strategy for rural road development basically accepts the existing policy and strategy framework such as goals, targets and main strategies. The main strategies are: establishing the legal frame work; securing the financing; strengthening institutional and human development and also establishing a workable action plan. The long-term plan in rural road development field is to strengthen the legal framework for supporting the rural road development, and to ensure the government budget for rehabilitation and maintenance to achieve the NSDP Goals. The mid-term plan is to establish the legal framework for supporting the rural road development, for example Rural Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Law, and to establish the rural road implementation system in District levels such as Rural Road Master Plan (Five Year Plan). The short-term plan is to get approval of the Rural Road Policy and to establish the Rural Road Master Plan in the District level. Two pilot projects are designed to highlight key aspects of the rural road strategic framework through introducing the Korean experience of rural road development. The two pilot projects are district wise rural road rehabilitation and maintenance and the investigation and evaluation for establishing the district wise rural road development plan.(1) Rural Community The VDC is a focal organization in the rural community affairs and plays an important role in rural development. However at the moment there are some constraints in the VDC mechanism. The main problems are: a role conflict between the village chief and the VDC chief, weakness of VDC activities and the fragility of the VDC organization. In accordance with these problems, the strategies prepared are: to legalize the VDC establishment, to expand the VDC into a nation-wide institution, to vitalize the VDC activity, to train its members and also to put into practice pilot projects from lessons learned. The long-term plans in rural community development are:◦ To expand the Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) into a nation- wide program◦ To expand Integrated Rural Area Development (IRAD) project into nationwide program◦ To strengthen the National VDC Training Centers.The mid-term plans are:◦ To implement Integrated Rural Area Development (IRAD) projects◦ To expand Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) into a nation- wide programThe short term plans are:◦ To legislate Royal Decree on the Establishment of the VDC◦ To expand the VDC and vitalize VDC roles and responsibilities◦ To establish a National VDC Training Center (NVTC)◦ To implement an Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) in pilot areas(2) Rural Economy by the low income levels in farm income and non-farm income. The main problems identified include income inequality between rural and urban areas, vulnerable agriculture due to natural conditions and lack of farming inputs and also difficulty in accessing rural credit and high interest rates. The policy goals of rural economy development could also be listed as: enhancement of rural residents’ income, improvement of rural marketing infrastructure, increment of agricultural productivity and the transformation of subsistence farming into commercial farming. The basic strategies are to expand rural infrastructure, to strengthen the micro-credit finance system, to improve rural research and extension, to improve access agricultural inputs, to strengthen agro-product processing industries, to diversify market access for farmers, and to promote the “One village, One Product” movement. The suggested mid and long term plans in rural economy field are:◦ The improvement of the agricultural productivity through diversifying and modernizing agriculture-oriented market mechanism◦ Development of strengthening the micro-credit finance system◦ Strengthening the agro-product processing industries such as Rice Processing Complex (RPC)◦ Promotion of the “One Village, One Product Movement.” Consequently, the short-term action program would consist of the establishment and expansion of micro-financing programs for rural households.(3) Rural Sociology The main problems identified in the indigenous people’s residence are poverty, poor living conditions, lack of human resources and threatened identity. According to these problems, the policy goals established are: poverty reduction, cultural identity sustenance, the enhancement of self-reliance and improvement of living standards. The long and mid-term development plans in rural sociology could be listed as:◦ Expanding economic opportunities (agriculture, off-farm employment, tourism, land registration etc)◦ Trainning leaders on jobs (construction of training centers, development of training courses etc)◦ Designing integrated rural development projects (improvement of living conditions, construction of a Model Village for ethnic minority etc)◦ Securing ethnic identity through cultural conservation (construction of multi-functional Ethnic Minority Cultural Center) And then the short-term plans would be:◦ To establish Model Training Centers◦ To design a Model Village◦ To support festivals for the ethnic minority(4) Human Resource Development The main problems identified in the rural human resource development field are the weakness of human resource development system and training facilities, and also the weakness of planning, monitoring and evaluation abilities. In this context, the strategies established are: the establishment of pilot projects at the commune level and the expansion of these into all the provinces in a long-term period, formulation of the action plan for the pilot project areas, training of community leaders to build their capabilities and the provision of financial support from MRD to support communes and rural communities in implementing pilot projects. The long-term plans of HRD are:◦ To expand a Regional Rural Human Development Training Center and Rural Basic Skill Training Center◦ To establish an Institute of National Rural Human Development (Diploma) The mid-term plan is:◦ To expand the Regional Rural Human Development Training Center and Rural Basic Skill Training Center And then the short-term plan and pilot projects are:◦ To establish a National Rural Human Development Training Center and Regional Rural Human Development Training Center◦ To establish and operate a Provincial Office of Training & Research of under 23 PDRDs◦ To rehabilitate Rural Basic Skill Training Center in Takeo and Svay Rieng Provinces(5) Rural Health Care Problems identified in the rural health care are: poor health especially vulnerability to communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases, poor infrastructure of rural water supply system and sanitation, poor rural residents perception on health and sanitation, lack of health care organizations in the rural areas, lack of motivation to encourage VHV's job performance, lack of political will to support the program through the national budgets and low education of the community people among others. Strategies have been formulated to overcome the existing problems identified in the study. These are: to expand healthy environments in the rural areas, to build the capacity of human resources and to promote behavioral change in health matters. The long-term plans in rural health care are:◦ Healthy sanitation facility coverage for all of the rural community◦ Capacity building and development of human resources for rural health care◦ Food and nutrition support program development for the poor in rural areas The mid-term plans are:◦ Expansion of healthy sanitation facilities for CMDG by 2015◦ Capacity building and supplying rural healthcare manpower◦ Advertisement and education on non-smoking and smoking hazards and prevention to the rural people The short-term plans include:◦ Rural sanitation improvement through participation of the rural community◦ Strengthening the capacity of rural health care staff and building the capacity of the VHVs◦ Health hygiene education and advertisement◦ Nutrition and food safety education◦ Rural latrine construction through community participation(6) Law and Institution The problems identified in the law and institution are: weak connection of central and local rural development institution, VDC’s limited roles in CC and a weak legal status, lack of exclusively responsible institution on rural development affairs, insufficient and incapable education and training systems. Policy goals are prepared as follows: solve inefficient procedure for implementation of rural development policy and strategy, to eliminate ambiguity of legal and institutional matters on the rural development affairs, and to enhance the manpower and budgetary systems. The long-term plans in law and institution fields are:◦ To establish rural development institutions for planning, implementation and maintenance of rural development policies and strategies◦ To establish a Law on the Protection of the Indigenous People The mid-term plans are:◦ To establish laws to drive comprehensive rural development projects/ programs◦ To establish a law on strengthening the VDC◦ To revise Law on Commune/Sangkat Administrative Management◦ To establish training institutions for rural development The short-term plans are:◦ To reform the budgeting system for rural development◦ To reform manpower system for rural development