Project Launch:

Prek Thnot Commune is located in the Kampot province and is made up of four villages. Many families in Prek Thnot do not like to consume vegetables because they are unaware of the nutritional benefits. In addition, organic vegetables are rare in the local market. Through this project, ten families will participate in organic vegetable gardening trainings, where they will learn how to create a home garden, focusing on methods to grow vegetables during the particularly heavy local rainy season. A garden club will be created to provide space for families to bond, exchange ideas about gardening and trade or sell surplus produce. In addition, a demonstration garden will be built at the local health center to promote organic gardening to visitors, as well as to allow health workers to teach the community about proper nutrition through food demonstrations and workshops. Overall, this project aims to increase nutrition and food security among the four villages in Prek Thnot Commune.

Project Update

After completing a series of gardening workshops, the participating families started their own home gardens, which have yielded lots of vegetables. While the majority of the families have saved the produce for household consumption, four of them have sold their extra vegetables to neighbors. A local welder was able to build rice hull carbonizers for each family, which is used to turn cheap rice husks into charcoal fertilizer. Additionally, each family has their own compost pile to use as organic fertilizer, which is made out of plants and seafood scraps. As the dry season approaches, the families are only using a small portion of their garden to minimize water consumption but are excited to expand their garden during the rainy season.

Testimonials

"I did not think it is possible to do a home garden because I only had experience planting rice. Now, I want to try to plant different vegetables, such as tomato, Chinese radish, pumpkins." - Kong, Project Participant

"I am planning to plant more moringa trees. Look! I already made some seedlings. And this little tree, I planted one month ago. It is already growing so well." - Moy, Project Participant