Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association

Opinion

An Indigenous women walks back from farming in the Veun Sai district of Ratanakiri province on October 29, 2023. (CamboJA/Try Thaney)

Op-Ed: Indigenous Communities Lose Land at Perilous Rate Due to Predatory Loan Industry

A microfinance credit officer in Ratanakiri recently told me he thought Cambodia’s Indigenous communities would be landless in the next 10 years, as they sell off their land to pay off loans. His worrying prediction comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, when financial instability pushed even more people in the country to take on debt. Many local community members, including Indigenous communities, have borrowed money from banks and microfinance institutions to buy land, pay for medical expenses, build houses, fund farms, carry out religious ceremonies and pay school tuition. But many of these communities are struggling to pay back their debt.
An Indigenous women walks back from farming in the Veun Sai district of Ratanakiri province on October 29, 2023. (CamboJA/Try Thaney)

Op-Ed: Indigenous Communities Lose Land at Perilous Rate Due to Predatory Loan Industry

A microfinance credit officer in Ratanakiri recently told me he thought Cambodia’s Indigenous communities would be landless in the next 10 years, as they sell off their land to pay off loans. His worrying prediction comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, when financial instability pushed even more people in the country to take on debt. Many local community members, including Indigenous communities, have borrowed money from banks and microfinance institutions to buy land, pay for medical expenses, build houses, fund farms, carry out religious ceremonies and pay school tuition. But many of these communities are struggling to pay back their debt.
Jong-Jin Kim, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Op-Ed: Women’s Work: Time to Recognize Their Critical Role in Agriculture – And Invest in It

Despite women's significant contributions to our agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region, women continue to face persistent obstacles, including limited access to resources, services, and discriminatory practices all along the food value chain. As we gather to celebrate this year’s International Women's Day (IWD), it is time for action, to fully recognize women's indispensable role in the fields, in the factories, and those running small and medium-sized companies, associations and cooperatives – all of which produce the nutritious food we eat each day.
A City Bus drives along a street in Phnom Penh on January 12, 2024. (CamboJA/ Pring Samrang)

Op-Ed: Why Phnom Penh’s City Bus Struggles to Gain Ridership

While driving through Phnom Penh, it is not uncommon to spot public buses making their way down major boulevards with virtually zero passengers, even during peak traffic hours. No image can better represent the current state of Phnom Penh’s disjointed public bus system than the visual of these empty buses surrounded by, and at times blocking, clusters of smaller vehicles as they squeeze through the busy roads. 
A woman carries a child in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on June 28, 2023. CamboJA/ Pring Samrang

Op-Ed: Postpartum Depression and the Hidden Costs of New Motherhood

“What can I do besides having to raise them myself when I don’t have much support? I cry every day when it’s too hard to bear the responsibilities of being a mother of a newborn baby,” said a Cambodian mother of a 4-month-old infant who opened up to me about her experience as a first-time parent.
A residential street in Phnom Penh. (Natvathnak Chanrith)

Phnom Penh’s Suburbs Can And Should Be Safer

Picture a modestly sized house with ample rooms for a burgeoning family. Outside, we find a manicured garden and a driveway for the family's two cars. For a growing number of Cambodian urbanites, this vision is the ideal living environment they strive for.