Breaking the cycle of poverty for children in Cambodia
With one of the highest rates of poverty in the country, children living in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province face significant challenges, including limited access to quality education and exposure to harmful labour conditions. By taking a systems approach to identify and address the challenges facing farmers in their markets and providing technical expertise to respond to these challenges and future proof against climate shocks, we are helping farmers and their families do better.
Why children in Cambodia need our help
Children in Cambodia face significant challenges, with multi-dimensional poverty impacting families, and leading to negative coping mechanisms such as child labour and school dropouts. In Cambodia’s Koh Kong province, where we work, 44% of the population were classified as IDPoor by the Cambodian Government in May 2019.
Save the Children’s STEER project
The Systems Approach to Transformative Economic Empowerment and Resilience (STEER) project has helped create transformative change for children and their families in Koh Kong.
Supported by the New Zealand Government, STEER aims to improve the economic empowerment, household wellbeing, and resilience of local communities through a market-based approach. The project focuses on key agricultural sectors, including vegetables, bananas, and cashew nuts, addressing critical constraints such as low productivity, poor market performance, and limited access to finance and technical knowledge.
Working closely with provincial and district authorities, Cambodian government departments, and partners like iDE, the project has supported more than 1700 farmers, including lead farmers and producer groups.
Activities include training farmers in climate-smart agriculture, establishing demonstration farms, enhancing market linkages, and promoting gender equality and child protection. The project also facilitated farmer field days, exchange visits, and the formation of farmer-producer groups with savings and loan initiatives. By integrating these components, STEER not only increased household incomes and agricultural productivity but also significantly improved child wellbeing and family resilience. This holistic approach ensured that the benefits of the project were sustainable and far-reaching, leaving a lasting positive impact on the communities of Koh Kong.
How we know we’re making a difference
We measure our success through tangible, positive changes in the communities we work. In Koh Kong, the STEER project has led to remarkable increases in household incomes, improved agricultural productivity, and enhanced child wellbeing. Beneficiary farmers have seen their annual crop profits rise.
Farmers involved with the project have seen an almost 60% increase in annual crop profit over the five years of the project – from $1401 at baseline to $2234 at endline.
As household incomes increase, families are able to spend more on children’s needs and wellbeing, such as schoolbooks and healthy foods, leading to better outcomes.
Moreover, additional funds provided in Year 2 of the project have begun to address the issue of high child labour rates and violence against children – with the benefit of this seen in the endline results.
Children’s involvement in harmful work has also declined among participating households, from 32% to 4%, and investment in children increased. Almost 900 households were trained in positive parenting and gender equity, and outreach activities promoted positive parenting.
Sadly, while positive parenting increased, with 97% of households now practicing positive discipline, violence against children still remains relatively high. Households reporting use of emotional violence decreased from 73% to 59%, but the decrease in physical violence was much smaller, from 35% to 32%.
The project demonstrated a strong return on investment, generating $9.27 for every $1 spent. When the social impact of the project is taken into account, the return on investment was $12.11 for every $1 invested.
Who makes our programme possible
Through Aotearoa New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation Programme — Ngā Hoe Tuputupu-mai-tawhiti, Kiwis are providing children in Cambodia and around the world with the chance to achieve a brighter future. Find out more here. This programme is also supported by our generous regular givers, whose monthly contribution to our life-changing work in Aotearoa and around the world make projects like this possible.
Save the Children works in partnership with the Cambodian Government.
