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A chick in cupped hands, symbolizing CRDT's agricultural development programs

The Le Tonlé community

Le Tonlé was founded by the Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) to provide training and access to employment for disadvantaged Cambodian youths. Now, Le Tonlé income helps CRDT to continue its work in the local community.

CRDT's vision is a Cambodia free from poverty and environmental degradation. Its mission is to  sustainably improve food security, incomes, and living standards of subsistence rural communities in support of environmental conservation throughout Cambodia.in  undertakes community development, natural resource management, ecotourism and social enterprise projects.

Income at Le Tonlé helps CRDT's mission in the following sectors:

Food security

To ensure that households have access to nutritious foods all year round, CRDT provides much needed training to rural communities to improve agricultural techniques. We introduce new crop varieties to diversify household diets, and increase crop production. We have over 20,000 beneficiaries with improved food security.

Home garden tomatoes for food security

Home garden tomatoes for food security
Income generation in Cambodia: scaling up vegetable production

Scaling up vegetable production

Income generation

CRDT trains farmers in agricultural techniques, bookkeeping, and enterprise, scales up their production, and facilitates access to market. We set up local business clusters for vegetables, chickens and fish. Seven thousand members of 220 farmers groups have joined.

We establish village savings groups to provide capital for small-scale agricultural project. Two thousand members in 68 groups now have affordable access to capital.
Our ecotourism projects on islands along the Mekong River brings both domestic and international income to families in remote communities.

Water scarcity

Regions where CRDT operates suffer prolonged periods of water scarcity. CRDT ameliorates the hardships of the extended dry season by supplying solar-powered water pumps, water storage ponds, and irrigation systems.

Cambodian village water supply system.

Cambodian village water supply system.
Cambodian hardwood trees

Climate change adpatation and mitigation

CRDT reduces impact on climate change though the use of solar power and bio-digesters which produce methane for domestic cooking. We introduce climate-smart agriculture to help farmers adapt to climate change.

 

CRDT recently started an agroforestry project on 2,500 of land. Farmers will plant long-tern crops such as cashew, rubber, fruit and five species of hardwood on previously degraded land. This protects the land from further degradation, diversifies crops and earns income from produce and carbon credits.

Cambodian hardwood trees.

Hygiene and sanitation

Poor hygiene is a longstanding problem in remote communities and the resulting diarrhea can lead to malnutrition. CRDT trains in WASH, and has dug wells and installed ten village water supply systems for five thousand villagers. Villagers maintain their own water systems with a sustainable business model.

 

CRDT has combatted open defecation in villages by installing over 10,000 latrines.

Household piped water in a Cambodian village

Household piped water.

A Cambodian boy picking squash / pumpkins for nutrition and health

Health and nutrition

Acute malnutrition afflicts one in ten Cambodian children. CRDT improves the health of entire communities with safe water systems, latrines, home gardening and animal raising. We train women on the importance of well-balanced diets to secure the health of their families.

Squash / Pumpkins for nutrition and health.

Environmental Education and Waste Management

CRDT works with municipalities to improve waste managements, especially reducing plastic waste through the 3 R’s of reduce, reuse and recycle. We set up new waste management processes in remote communities.

Waste collection on Koh Trong Island

Waste collection on Koh Trong Island
Youth engagement meeting.

Other

CRDT also has programs for youth engagement in civil society, community research to identify causes of poverty.

Youth engagement meeting.

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