Farmers in Cambodia’s Battambang province are some of the few people in the country to benefit from efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, saying they finally have a market for their crops and can earn a living now that the border of neighboring Thailand has closed due to the pandemic.
The farmers told RFA’s Khmer Service on Thursday that they no longer have to underbid competitors selling crops from Thailand, allowing them to double the price of their produce instead of being forced to take jobs as migrant workers across the border to earn a living.
Additionally, they said, middlemen now come directly to their farms to purchase crops, meaning they no longer need to transport them to the market and hope they find a buyer.
Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community president Theng Savoeun said local farmers are thriving because the closure of the country’s borders with Thailand and Vietnam has prevented retailers from flooding the market with imported vegetables.
He urged the government to put measures into place that continue to protect farmers from the price impacts of crop imports.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/farmers-05282020183607.html