Cambodian farmers urged to seize op****tunity
2nd May, 2008
PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday appealed to
the country=92s farmers to start growing rice and other crops, saying
most of the population would benefit from the global food crisis. =93The
food crisis in the world, instead, offers an op****tunity for Cambodian
farmers although citizens complain about the soaring price of rice,=94
Hun Sen said during a ceremony some 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of
Phnom Penh.
=93But in return, some 80 percent (of the population) who are farmers
benefit from this. Now the op****tunity for our Cambodian farmers has
arrived,=94 he said. Hun Sen said rain had fallen over most of the
country and appealed to farmers to rush to grow a variety of food
crops, including rice. =93Now the rainy season has started,=94 he said.
=93Now the world has a big crisis, so please, our farmers start growing
the crops, including rice, corn and beans. All the crops have a market
now,=94 the premier said.
Hun Sen banned rice ex****ts in late March in a bid to halt soaring
prices for the staple food. The price of the most commonly purchased
grade of rice has hit 90 US cents a kilogramme (2.2 pounds), up from
50-60 cents two months ago, deepening the poverty of the one-third of
the population living on less than 50 cents a day.
Hun Sen said on Wednesday, however, that the government was
considering ex****ting rice to find markets for Cambodian farmers and
to =93fulfil our international obligation in helping other countries=85 to
reduce the difficulty in the world=94.
=93Cambodia is a small country, but it can help hundreds of thousands of
families if we can ex****t the rice,=94 Hun Sen said. =93We cannot survive
alone,=94 he said, urging governments to find ways to ensure =93the world
has food security=94. Officials have said that Cambodia has enough rice
with more than two million tonnes stockpiled. UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon Tuesday urged countries to drop ex****t restrictions and said
the immediate priority must be to =93feed the hungry=94 as he ordered a
task force to tackle the global crisis.
World grain prices have rocketed, a trend blamed variously on higher
energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss
of farmland to biofuel plantations, industry and cities, and price
speculation.
Soaring rice prices have forced the UN World Food Programme to
indefinitely suspend a programme supplying free breakfasts to 450,000
poor Cambodian schoolchildren.
Better quality rice now sells for more than 700 dollars per tonne in
Cambodia compared with 300-400 dollars last year, according to
sellers. Cambodia, where more than 30 percent of the population of 14
million lives in poverty, is one of 12 =93hunger hot spot=94 countries,
according to the 2006 Global Hunger Index of the International Food
Policy Research Institute. =96 AFP
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