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The "Cooking with Gas" project aimed to dramatically improve the
food security and their standard of living for the 134 families of
Tamaung village, Takeo Province. CRDT worked with local residents to
install a series of biodigesters and wells and change agricultural
practices. This will eventually lead to greater and more diverse crop
yields, decreased rates of malnutrition and increase water provision
for people, livestock and to grow wide range of food produce.
 The
vast majority of people living in Tamaung village are uneducated and
use traditional agricultural methods and rice farming techniques. They
frequently face natural disasters, flooding and drought. In the past,
the villagers used wood as fuel for cooking, which had increasingly
sparse. Poor roads and no mechanized vehicles also required the women
and children to take much time and great effort, travelling large
distances to gather wood. It was not uncommon for the young women and
children of the village to travel up to 17 kilometres to find and
gather firewood. The current alternatives were to purchase charcoal,
which was beyond the means of most people within this community.
Compounding this problem, the soil in this area was infertile and
had a low capacity for holding water. Many local farmers were
unfamiliar with fertilisation techniques and lack the resources to
purchase any. Fruits, vegetables and other crops produced poor and low
yields due to the poor soil quality. Many local farmers are unfamiliar
with fertilisation techniques and lack the resources to purchase any.
Rice yields were low, and could only be grown once per year. As a
result, the village suffered from widespread malnutrition.
As part of the “Cooking with Gas” project, CRDT:
- Worked with villages to install 8 communal water pump wells
- Oversaw the construction of and conducted training in the use of
two fish culture ponds. Each pond was supplied with 800 fingerlings
(each pond estimated to yield approx 400 kg of fish every four
months)
- Trained village farmers to construct, install and maintain 25
biodigesters.
- Trained farmers in how to use biodigester effluent to fertilise
crops, fruit, and vegetables
- Conducted training for member id 70 families in improved
agricultural techniques (such as crop rotation and composting), and
environmental issues (such as deforestation).
- Distributed a diverse range of fruit and vegetable seeds and
seedlings
- Facilitated training of the Village Development Committee in
seed germination and vegetable production at the Kabal Boh
Government Agronomic Station.
- Encouraged and supported the VDC to implement a rice bank and a
village development fund to maintain the water pumps
- Facilitated specialised intensive education programs at the
University of Tropical Agriculture for the VDC and other selected
farmers (with a capacity for extending the training to their peers)
- Trained 4 Government staff (3 District officials from
departments of Rural Development, Agriculture, and Environment, and
the Commune Leader) in Biodigester construction & extension (with
assistance from the VDC)
- Provided educational field trip as part of the curriculum for 26
students and 3 teachers from Maharishi Vedic University (Prey Veng).
The field trip included transportation costs and student lunches.
- Mentored 3 Volunteer university students who assisted with
project implementation"
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