Activities
Building a model of rural development by promoting an agro-processing business that meets market needs in Cambodia: Assoc. Prof. Kasumi Ito
Although Cambodia has already achieved food self-sufficiency, because of its own undeveloped processing industry, there is a large influx of processed foods from neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam. Thus, the strengthening of the agricultural sector and the introduction of value-added agricultural products such as agro-processing, which will contribute to livelihood improvement of rural people as well as economy of the country, is urgently necessary.
This study aims to build a model of rural development in collaboration with Royal University of Agriculture Cambodia (RUA) through practical research on the development of and quality improvements for processed agricultural products based on market needs. Rice liquor, one of the traditional processed foods in Cambodia, was selected as a target to capture market needs, improve quality, increase commercialization, and cultivate its market through action research method supported by the Scientific Research Fund from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT). As of 2010, rice liquor was already commercialized and for sale in Cambodia. This model has been disseminated to neighboring countries that have the same or similar issues by the program of International Cooperation Initiative, MEXT.
 Rice liquor producer in Takeo Province: A step-by-step guide from a Japanese expert |