ABSTRACT
Cambodia is a country long acquainted both with risk and its mitigation. The unpredictability of the climate, predominantly low-lying and flat topography, and historical reliance on rain-fed agriculture makes the maintenance of livelihoods a considerable challenge. Nevertheless, it is one to which the Kingdom’s inhabitants have historically risen, using innovation and ingenuity to offset and mitigate the worst effects of the environment. The development of over 2,000 varieties of rice seed (Helmers 1997) suitable for various types and elevations of land under myriad conditions is a tangible example of this talent for adaptation, but of equal importance in the centuries-long struggle with nature have been the flexible, pragmatic, and enduring social resources upon which much of Cambodia continues to depend.
