Local advisers deliver products and profits to Cambodia's rural farmers
When Cambodian farmers buy fertilizer and seeds, they can also get helpful advice about how to increase production and gain better access to reliable markets to sell their crops.
It鈥檚 all part of a bundled package that provides farming necessities and technical know-how to smallholder farmers through a business model designed to boost incomes, share knowledge, and create value at each step of the supply chain.
Lors Thmey, which means 鈥榥ew growth鈥� in Khmer, teaches local entrepreneurs to become farm business advisers (FBAs). That means that in addition to selling products to farmers, they鈥檙e trained to be consultants, too.
Their clients, rural farmers, pay them for supplies, like seeds, fertilizers, shade screens, and drip piping, and advice and information on everything from weather patterns to soil care to up-to-date market pricing. As a result, farmers produce better crops and make more money, and the FBAs expand their businesses and boost their incomes, too.
The micro-franchise model of Lors Thmey was started in 2005 by iDE, an international organization with a mission to . Recognizing that rural farmers were missing out on opportunities to make more money because they lacked quality inputs, irrigation supplies, credit, agronomic know-how, and current market information, iDE saw an opportunity to create a profitable business with tangible benefits for its clients, as well.
鈥淭he core offerings of the business should create social value,鈥� said Michael Roberts, the Cambodia country director for iDE.
And, Roberts pointed out, very small improvements can create a lot of value for Cambodia鈥檚 farmers.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 relatively easy to get the gains, that鈥檚 a great opportunity for social business,鈥� he said.
That鈥檚 what farmer are seeing, too. For less than $50 per year, Lors Thmey鈥檚 , a return of five times their initial investment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 much easier to make enough money now than it was before,鈥� said Siey Mai, who farms rice, beans, tomatoes, and melons on a plot of land that has been in her family for generations.
Even as prices for seeds and other supplies increase, Mai and her family have seen their profits grow faster than their costs in the two years that they鈥檝e been working with a local adviser who has a Lors Thmey franchise.
鈥淗e comes to the farm to teach us little things, like how to use plastic to keep the land soft,鈥� she explained. 鈥淲ith softer land, we grow better food and sell more crops.鈥�
Another benefit of working with the advisers is that farmers can keep working instead of traveling to distant markets to sell their crops.
That鈥檚 because the advisers know what their clients are growing, and help to spread the word in local communities. While some crops still are sold in central markets, farmers like Mai now can trust information they get about current market prices and are more comfortable selling from home.
And it鈥檚 in the advisers鈥� interest to advertise their clients鈥� products well: The more the farmers earn selling crops, the more they invest in additional inputs and advice, meaning better business up the supply chain.
The franchise model along the supply chain of agricultural production. Small-scale farmers, half of whom are from the poorest third of the Cambodian population, earn higher incomes through use of quality supplies and up-to-date methods.
As independent entrepreneurs, advisers earn margins on the sale of products and build their customer base by providing advice that works. And Lors Thmey turns a profit selling products to its franchises, as it continues to build and support the adviser network throughout the country.
Business is growing for Lors Thmey, which currently within iDE鈥檚 operations in Cambodia. Active in five provinces and expanding into three more, Lors Thmey aims to employ 400 FBAs and be entirely self-financing within two more years.
Lors Thmey capitalizes on using the market to sell knowledge, as well as physical goods.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 donate people out of poverty,鈥� Roberts said.
鈥淭he only thing that鈥檚 given free in this project is training to the [advisers]. The small farmers need to invest in the seeds, fertilizer, and irrigation equipment. But it鈥檚 still able to reach very poor households, because the minimum investment is actually very small.鈥�
And, according to farmers, the investment is worth it.
鈥� Author Erik Mandell visited Lors Thmey in Cambodia with 听辫谤辞驳谤补尘.
鈥� Watch about iDE鈥檚 Farm Business Adviser program in Cambodia, made as part of .
鈥� at , a blog published by .
