Dubai Telegraph - School gardens a lifeline for hungry Cambodian children

EUR -
AED 3.865039
AFN 71.961868
ALL 97.885367
AMD 409.705534
ANG 1.898038
AOA 960.733931
ARS 1055.061215
AUD 1.613881
AWG 1.894109
AZN 1.787029
BAM 1.951539
BBD 2.126437
BDT 125.855234
BGN 1.956342
BHD 0.396578
BIF 3110.579445
BMD 1.052283
BND 1.414399
BOB 7.293078
BRL 6.086683
BSD 1.053191
BTN 88.848028
BWP 14.387453
BYN 3.446543
BYR 20624.740218
BZD 2.122845
CAD 1.469502
CDF 3014.78969
CHF 0.929776
CLF 0.037101
CLP 1023.776253
CNY 7.619996
CNH 7.625593
COP 4626.455438
CRC 534.824751
CUC 1.052283
CUP 27.885491
CVE 110.024795
CZK 25.350861
DJF 187.538784
DKK 7.458788
DOP 63.520417
DZD 140.573397
EGP 52.274979
ERN 15.78424
ETB 131.306162
FJD 2.388363
FKP 0.830585
GBP 0.832524
GEL 2.883571
GGP 0.830585
GHS 16.7185
GIP 0.830585
GMD 74.71233
GNF 9078.051459
GTQ 8.13025
GYD 220.338958
HKD 8.189863
HNL 26.613518
HRK 7.506205
HTG 138.346648
HUF 411.186809
IDR 16734.714279
ILS 3.929639
IMP 0.830585
INR 88.911049
IQD 1379.588093
IRR 44293.214291
ISK 145.520299
JEP 0.830585
JMD 166.933965
JOD 0.746386
JPY 162.676061
KES 136.007134
KGS 91.02957
KHR 4249.68174
KMF 491.94202
KPW 947.053999
KRW 1471.222726
KWD 0.323672
KYD 0.877684
KZT 523.167824
LAK 23125.51255
LBP 94319.785398
LKR 306.411046
LRD 190.622024
LSL 19.101997
LTL 3.107117
LVL 0.636515
LYD 5.138732
MAD 10.521031
MDL 19.167154
MGA 4930.189594
MKD 61.546561
MMK 3417.773046
MNT 3575.656436
MOP 8.443666
MRU 41.866002
MUR 48.839087
MVR 16.268296
MWK 1826.195708
MXN 21.380416
MYR 4.698412
MZN 67.293799
NAD 19.101997
NGN 1768.455747
NIO 38.755022
NOK 11.613586
NPR 142.154623
NZD 1.792324
OMR 0.40513
PAB 1.053101
PEN 3.996674
PGK 4.239684
PHP 62.126243
PKR 292.773138
PLN 4.342422
PYG 8247.914831
QAR 3.840515
RON 4.977085
RSD 117.020141
RUB 106.281009
RWF 1452.315514
SAR 3.95054
SBD 8.79238
SCR 14.332083
SDG 632.944958
SEK 11.610939
SGD 1.413951
SHP 0.830585
SLE 23.75528
SLL 22065.84631
SOS 601.88026
SRD 37.282669
STD 21780.126598
SVC 9.214882
SYP 2643.891613
SZL 19.091139
THB 36.458458
TJS 11.216013
TMT 3.682989
TND 3.324243
TOP 2.464553
TRY 36.27081
TTD 7.130433
TWD 34.270209
TZS 2791.031424
UAH 43.426878
UGX 3886.514989
USD 1.052283
UYU 45.021709
UZS 13526.469111
VES 48.861031
VND 26751.65603
VUV 124.929112
WST 2.937543
XAF 654.521833
XAG 0.033884
XAU 0.000395
XCD 2.843846
XDR 0.801343
XOF 654.521833
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.991742
ZAR 19.064031
ZMK 9471.810193
ZMW 29.146091
ZWL 338.834589
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

School gardens a lifeline for hungry Cambodian children
School gardens a lifeline for hungry Cambodian children / Photo: TANG CHHIN Sothy - AFP

School gardens a lifeline for hungry Cambodian children

Among the spinach crops at a rural Cambodian school garden, children test their maths skills while weighing produce -- but as food prices rise, the vegetable patch has become a safety net for struggling families.

Text size:

Long before Covid restrictions ravaged the economy, malnutrition and poverty stalked Cambodia's youth -- the legacy of decades of conflict and instability following the Khmer Rouge's genocidal rule in the 1970s.

Food insecurity has worsened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine stoked global shortages and inflation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says the prices of local staples have shot up in the past year: duck eggs by more than 20 percent and cooking oil by almost 40 percent.

Noodle seller Chhon Puthy, 31, has lost half her income during the pandemic and worries about her children's health.

"We parents had to reduce our rations sometimes," said the mother-of-two from the village of Chroy Neang Nguon, about two hours from Siem Reap.

In recent months, her family has come to rely on the garden and free breakfast programme at her children's school to ease the financial pressure.

"This community depends on the meal because every morning parents are busy with farming and could not cook for their kids," she said.

- Garden lifeline -

Remote schools in Siem Reap province use the gardens to teach pupils life skills such as cultivation and cooking.

"I learn about growing vegetables, making organic fertiliser, how to work in soil," 12-year-old Seyha told AFP, adding that the know-how has helped improve her family's own vegetable patch.

More than 1,000 schools around Cambodia have meal programmes supported by the WFP, with around 50 learning gardens set up with help from global rights group Plan International.

Before each day's lessons, students are served a free breakfast of rice and fish soup with vegetables grown in the garden.

Long Tov, principal of the school in Chroy Neang Nguon, said the garden and meal programme helped improve students' concentration levels, memory and test results.

"It (also) hugely reduces the school dropout rate," he told AFP.

Vireak, 12, said he was happy to eat at school with his classmates.

"I feel stronger and smarter and I can learn things much easier than before," he said.

- Impact -

Malnutrition costs the Cambodian economy more than $400 million a year -- about 2.5 percent of GDP -- according to a study backed by UNICEF.

The country has made progress on tackling the issue -- chronic malnutrition in children under five fell from 32 percent in 2014 to 22 percent -- but there are fears that inflation could stall momentum.

"Rising food prices are likely to exacerbate the already high levels of childhood malnutrition, just as the country started showing signs of recuperating from the pandemic's economic impacts," the United Nations Nutrition office in Cambodia said in a statement.

At Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, nutrition team leader Sroeu Phannsy told AFP that some poor families were being forced to water down infant milk formula, which can have devastating consequences for a baby's health.

The fight against malnutrition takes her team of health workers into remote areas, where they treat children with ready-to-eat, energy-dense snacks.

"We worry about their growth in the future, particularly their brain development will be weakened as they prepare to go to school at the age of five or six," she said.

Children and infants not receiving enough nutrients can go on to suffer low IQs, blindness, stunted growth and weak immune systems.

Back at the learning garden, a teacher shows a class, with full bellies after breakfast, when vegetables are ready to harvest.

"In the learning garden, we are happy and learn important skills... Back home I grow morning glory, cucumber, beans and tomatoes," 12-year-old Vireak said.

D.Farook--DT