カンボジア・ポーサット州における農業の変化とそのメカニズム --未利用資源の活用と外部からの資金調達--

Abstract

Using primary and secondary data, this study investigates how the agriculture of Pursat Province has developed in recent decades. As is the case with Cambodian agriculture as a whole, the agricultural development of Pursat Province is characterized by a rapid expansion in the production of both rice and upland crops such as cassava and maize for export. The increase in production was stimulated by the rise of international prices of those crops, and made possible primarily by the utilization of unused natural resources, including water from the Pursat River for rice and a large area of uncultivated land for the upland crops. These resources were put to use with the construction of irrigation facilities for the former and paved roads for the latter, almost entirely funded by foreign assistance. Farmers and distributors of crops and agricultural inputs could expand their operations by obtaining loans from private financial institutions. Such institutions have expanded their business in rural Cambodia since the 2000s with funds from foreign institutions. In comparison with the cases of rice production in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and cassava production in northeastern Thailand, the agricultural development of Pursat Province is distinguished by its heavy reliance on foreign assistance for infrastructure construction and foreign-funded private financial institutions for agricultural credit..