Why is rice the most important crop in Cambodia?

Continuing on the topic of rice and it’s importance in Cambodia here are some recent studies that discuss the value of rice and also how Cambodia can drive it’s rice industry forward.

• Rice contributed to 26% of Cambodia’s GDP in 2017
• The rice sector employ’s around 3 million people which is almost 20% of the Cambodian population
• Cambodia produces 9.9 million tons of rice annually with domestic production consuming roughly half leaving a surplus for informal/formal exports
• Between 2010-2017 rice exports increased by 600%
• The EU is the largest destination of exports followed by China and Southeast Asian countries

Although these facts look promising Cambodia has a lot of improvements to succeed in the international market. Area’s of improvement include: reduction of logistics costs through better administration, improved infrastructure, improvement of the supply chain management, promotion of the Angkor Malys certification mark, the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices and the promotion of value added by-products from rice.

Study in full here.