ABSTRACT
Since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, in tandem with peace reconciliation and democratization, Cambodia has worked to restore its economy, and to ensure sustainable macro-economic growth, which is believed to benefit both urban and rural communities. In so doing, since the late 1990s, the Cambodian government has delineated a number of development policies and strategic plans. Given that approximately 91 per cent of rural Cambodians are poor (ADB 2014), rural development and poverty reduction have always been the loci of government strategies and policies, apart from stabilizing macro-economic growth. To implement the plans and policies, the government frequently calls upon the contributions of the private sector and civil society. Consequently, the government enjoyed its double-digit economic growth of about 10 per cent annually from 2004 to 2007. Although the growth – due in part to global economic crisis – declined to about 6 per cent in 2008, it recovered up to 7 per cent in 2012 (World Bank 2014). While these gains denote the efforts of the government in concert with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and donors, whether or not these achievements have contributed to sustainability remains an open question. This chapter simultaneously examines the current practices and the challenges towards achieving sustainability in Cambodia’s rural communities.
