1. PEN Cambodia: Overview of Poverty-Environment Context
Sub-Regional Conference
Vientiane, Laos
21-22 June 2006

2. Cambodia’s Geographic Regions

3. Poverty: Context and Trends
35% of population below poverty line in 2004
Poverty is uneven across country:
Urban (18%) vs. rural (38%)
Coastal (27%) vs. Plateau/mountains (56%)
More than 75% of population in poverty in Plains & Tonle Sap

4. Poverty: Context and Trends
Poverty is largely a rural problem
85 percent of Cambodia’s population in rural areas (11 million out of a total population of 13 million)
Of total population below the poverty line, more than 90 percent are in rural areas (equal to more than 4 million people)
Poverty declined from 1993/94 to 2004, but:
Inequality in rural areas has increased
Poverty increased in two provinces, Kampong Thom and Kampong Speu

5. Poverty: Context and Trends
Rural Poverty Incidence by Province
Source: CSES 2004.

6. Environment: Context and Trends
Cambodia enjoys a high natural resource endowment per capita (unused land, forest resources, freshwater fisheries)
But…
Logging/forest clearing increasing
Forest cover clearance of 0.3 million ha ( ) compared to 1.3 million ha ( )
72% of rural communes report less forest coverage compared to five years ago
New cultivation increasingly on less productive land
More than half land cleared from 1997 to 2002 had low-to-medium soil fertility
Fisheries in decline
86% of communes report a decline compared to five years ago

7. Forest Disturbance by Roads and Villages in Cambodia, 2002
Source: IFSR 2004

8. Forest Cover Clearance in Cambodia: 1993-1997 & 1997-2002
Source: IFSR 2004

9. Management Context: Land Tenure Estimates
Source: World Bank 2005

10. Management Context: “Vacuum” Estimate
Source: World Bank 2005

11. Summary
Poverty rate at 35% and declining, but poverty is uneven across country
High natural resource endowment, but trends indicate declines in forest, fisheries, and available productive land
30-40 percent of land, forest, and fisheries under no clear management

12. Thank You