“Lessons Learnt from Smallholder Rubber Plantation Support Programs”
Regional Conference
24 June 2009, Phnom Penh
This conference, jointly organized by the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ General Directorate of Rubber Plantation, the AFD’s Phnom Penh Agency, and the AFD’s Research Department in Paris, brought together more than 80 participants from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia and France.
A panel of experts from all the countries represented gave presentations on the principal challenges in the village rubber plantation sector. The workshop was coordinated around the following lines:
- Current smallholder plantation dynamics and the policies to support them;
- Lessons learnt from projects and programs supporting smallholder rubber plantations;
- Current challenges in research for village rubber plantations; and
- Prospects.
Indeed, the current context is marked by rapid growth of smallholder rubber plantations in the sub-region, resulting in a growing need for support. The workshop allowed the participants to gather information on the means that have been utilized in various countries to support this growth, and fuel reflection on the most promising approaches and policies to make smallholder rubber plantation both a vector for economic development and a tool to alleviate poverty.
Photos : Melon Rouge
Videos : Hervé Janody and Christophe Vancoppenolle
