How The Ukraine War Affected Farmers in Cambodia - And How We Assist
When the conflict in Ukraine started in 2022, there were immediate impacts and implications on the global food and energy markets, and some of these have continued. Of course, rising inflationary costs are still felt in the global markets as both Russia and Ukraine were major exporters of grains (especially wheat and barley), and agricultural fertilisers (such as potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus).
Even in Southeast Asia, the impacts were felt. In Cambodia, the prices of fertilisers, for example, are estimated to have tripled in costs by the start of 2023. For smallholder and independent farmers, this could have potentially been a death knell as they operate on small margins.
How is BRM Agro Helping Smallholder Farmers
At BRM Agro, we have been operating as an agri-business since 2015, but our founder's roots in rice go back for generations. Situated in the middle of Cambodia’s rice-basket production centre in Kampong Thom province we have our pulse on the market and by cooperating and working directly with farmers on-site and in the surrounding areas, we are quick to gauge the slightest changes in costs and value of the milled rice which impact their livelihoods.
Overall our Smallholder Farmer Partners earn 20-30% more by working with BRM Agro than they make working with other mills and we believe fundamentally that a sustainable business must benefit all stakeholders.
We choose to work closely with the farmers by offering a wide range of partnership services to ensure they are profitable and have access to the necessary raw materials and technology to produce optimal yields.
BRM Agro provides quality seeds, fertiliser, and other support to our partners including harvesting machines, drone spraying service, practical and efficient 1 MT bags to reduce labour costs and a crane truck transport to our mill.
We know that rice farmers are also vulnerable to price fluctuations and are often forced to sell their unprocessed rice paddy to traders, the massive uptick in costs for the farmers we work with in rising fertiliser costs was dramatic.
BRM Agro opted to buy fertiliser in large bulk and absorb some of these costs and was able to help minimise the impact on our farmer partners to ensure they could still focus on crop production and harvests and have the peace of mind that we could assist. Simultaneously, our Smallholder Farmer Support Team worked closely with each farmer to ensure the highest possible yield and quality of rice is produced.
What Are Cambodia’s Rice Exports & Targets In 2023
Global agricultural production prices were expected to decrease by 5% in 2023, as supply chains settle and readjustments are made. Global food production is still impacted as the conflict continues to pose risks for global food prices.
At the start of 2023, the dry season rice cultivation in Cambodia exceeded the national targets due to favourable weather.
In Q1 2023, Cambodia exported 176,581 tons of milled rice which represented a 3.5 per cent increase from 170,539 tons in the same period last year, reported the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF). The annual milled rice export target for the country is 750,000 tons in 2023 and 1 million tons in 2025.
China remained the top buyer of Cambodia’s milled rice (48 per cent of Cambodia’s total milled rice export in Q1 2023), but in total Cambodian rice has been shipped to 41 countries this year.
According to the World Bank, by 2050, 9 billion people worldwide will need to be fed and global agricultural production will need to increase by 70 per cent!
Exported milled rice varieties from the Kingdom included premium aromatic rice, fragrant rice, long-grain white rice, parboiled rice, and organic rice.
By operating a state-of-the-art rice drying, milling and storage facility, which is being further invested in, modernised and expanded, we believe we can continue to endorse a Citizen Impact ethos and help Cambodia be a leading global supplier of agricultural goods - our goal is to become the top exporter of quality Cambodian rice.
