Natural resource governance and food security in Cambodia: A policy discussion paper

Cambodia experienced a decade of rapid economic growth until 2007, but that growth depended significantly on exploiting its natural resource base and was marked by an unusually rapid rise in inequality. While investments in health, education, rural infrastructure and microcredit are essential to improving the asset portfolio of vulnerable households, one of the most pressing needs is to improve security of access to the natural resources that underpin rural livelihoods. This report tries to outline the critical role of natural resource governance in Cambodia’s prospects for sustained economic growth, poverty reduction and food security, and a range of challenges to improving natural resource governance.