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Readiness and Scaling Assessment for Rice-Fish 
Culture 

 

Date: 14 – 15 January 2026 



   

Acknowledgments  
 

This work was undertaken as part of the CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) program and the ASEAN CGIAR 
Innovate for Food Program. We gratefully acknowledge the support and funding provided by the CGIAR Trust Fund 
and FCDO. 

We extend our sincere appreciation to our partners, stakeholders, and collaborators whose expertise, insights, and 
commitment have contributed significantly to shaping this work. Their contributions have been instrumental in 
advancing CGIAR’s ambition to scale proven innovations across food, land, and water systems, fostering impact that is 
inclusive, sustainable, and transformative. 

We also recognize the continued support and collaboration of national and regional partners, whose engagement ensures 
that the solutions developed are responsive to local needs, strengthen innovation systems, and contribute to building 
more resilient agrifood systems. 

 

To learn more about CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) program, please contact: 

scaling@cgiar.org 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scaling for Impact (S4I) is a CGIAR program (2025–2030) that tests, refines, and scales 
innovations in food, land, and water systems. It works to align those innovations with 

stakeholder needs to achieve transformative impact. 

Website: https://www.cgiar.org/cgiar-research-porfolio-2025-2030/scaling-for-impact/ 

About CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) program 

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future.  

Visit https://www.cgiar.org/research/cgiar-portfolio to learn more 

about the initiatives in the CGIAR research portfolio. 

About CGIAR  



  

Citation: 

Pen N, Then R., Ouk A., Ou P, Sean V,  Flor R. 2026. Learning Alliance Meetings: Multi-stakeholder 
learning for Climate Resilient Rice-fish Systems in Takeo, Cambodia. 



   

Contents 
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 
2. About the Workshop ......................................................................................................................................... 1 

2.1. Welcoming Remark ................................................................................................................................... 1 
2.2 Opening Remark ........................................................................................................................................ 1 

3. Scaling Ambition .............................................................................................................................................. 1 
4. Innovation Packages: Bottlenecks and Innovations ......................................................................................... 1 
5. Scaling Readiness and Use for Innovation ....................................................................................................... 2 
6. Summary of Innovation Packages .................................................................................................................... 0 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



1. Introduc,on 
 

2. About the Workshop 

2.1. Welcoming Remark 

2.2 Opening Remark 

3. Scaling Ambi,on 

Dr. Rica Joy Flor, as facilitator, led a discussion on scaling the Rice-Fish innova:on package in Cambodia. 
She ini:ally presented a draA ambi:on, proposing that by 2030 at least four provinces would adopt 
the innova:on, benefi:ng around 37,000 households, with 50% of women and youth involved. AAer 
the discussion, par:cipants collec:vely agreed that by 2035 the innova:on should extend beyond four 
provinces while maintaining the same number of beneficiaries (Box 1). 

Box 1. Scaling Ambi1on before and a6er the discussion. 

                                                   

4. Innova,on Packages: BoBlenecks and Innova,ons 

Dr. Rica then explained the innova:on packages, focusing on the boLlenecks that hinder Rice-Fish 
adop:on from achieving its 2035 ambi:on. Par:cipants were given small pink notes to write down as 
many poten:al issues or challenges as possible. These notes were collected, grouped into categories, 
and placed on flipcharts. 

The par:cipants were then asked to walk around and review the flipcharts, which contained nine 
different topics, to iden:fy those they were most interested in addressing. Once they selected a topic, 
each par:cipant was asked to highlight or describe one problem they considered the main challenge. 
AAer iden:fying the key boLleneck, each group worked on developing an innova:on (solu:on) to 
address it and completed an Enabler Form (Figure 1),  



   
Figure 1. The main bo1lenecks and key solu8ons were iden8fied. 

Next, each group shared and explained what their innova<on (solu<on) was? How it worked? Who were their 
target group/people? At the same <me, other groups raised some ques<ons, as well as providing some 
comments or sugges<ons for beGerment (Figure 2). 

 

 

[Insert Photos] 

 

Figure 2. Each group sharing and explaining their main challenge and a key innova8on, with answering ques8ons 
asked by other groups. 

5. Scaling Readiness and Use for Innova,on 
In the scaling and assessment process, the CGIAR PlaNorm was used to score depending on the number of 
par<cipants who agreed or disagreed with the innova<on. First, it assessed readiness and use of Rice-Fish 
innova<on, and the result showed that Rice-Fish innova<on readiness received 7 scores, while innova<on use 
received 2 scores (Figure 3). This means that, in terms of readiness, the Rice-Fish innova<on is s<ll under 
prototype, semi-controlled condi<ons. When it comes to innova<on use, it means the innova<on has been used 
within project partners who ini<ated it up (Appendix). Next, a scaling on readiness and use for Rice-Fish 
innova<ons (solu<ons) developed by the 9 groups was conducted. The results varied from group to group. Some 
innova<ons had a readiness score of 8, while innova<on use score was 2. Some innova<ons had rela<vely low 
scores for both readiness and use, which was 2 (Table 1). 

  
Figure 3. CGIAR plaIorm for assessing readiness and use for an innova8on and an enabler, and the result of 

assessing on readiness and use for Rice-Fish innova8on developed by the 9 groups. 



   

 

6. Summary of Innova,on Packages 
Table 1. Summary of Innova1on Packages 

Enabler BoGlenecks Innova<on/Solu<on What does it do? Who does it target? 

Assessment 
Score by Group 

Collec<ve 
Assessment Score 

Readiness Use Readiness Use 

1) Improves 
beneficiary/ user 
awareness of the core 
innova<on) 

Limited knowledge in 
technical aspect 

Technical educa<on 
through extension 
(social medias, demo, 
field visit) and including 
in curriculum under 
MoEYs 

Train farmers, conduct 
demo field trial, field 
exchange visit, and 
design school curriculum 
about rice-fish 
innova<on 

Famers, AC members, 
relevant stakeholder 

7 4 

7 2 

2) Improves 
beneficiary/ user 
confidence/ trust in 
core innova<on) 

Lack of trust and risky  Demonstra<on with 
focus on food safety 

To build trust between 
relevant stakeholders 
about rice-fish system, 
par<cularly food safety. 

Farmers and relevant 
stakeholders 

6 2 

3) Improves 
availability and 
beneficiary/ user 
access to core 
innova<on 

Input Scarcity and 
quality 

Improve quality (seed, 
fingerling) and 
accessibility for feed, 
pellet 

To increase product and 
input availability, 
improve seed and feed 
quality. 

Local producers 

7 3 

4) Improves 
beneficiary/ user 
access to finance/ 

Lack of capital to 
operate the business 

Support capital 
investment with low 
interest rate 

Seek or working with 
banks and microfinance 
that provide loans with 
low interest rate in 

Bank, microfinance, and 
producers/farmers 3 2 



affordability of the 
core innova<on 

suppor<ng the Rice-fish 
system 

5) Improves 
compa<bility of core 
innova<on with 
exis<ng farming/ 
market/ policy 
systems or business 
models 

Water availability  Site selec<on and 
improvement 

Study on loca<on that is 
suitable for Rice-Fish 
system in term of 
geography, water 
sources, climate 
condi<on. 

Technical persons, 
researchers, and 
farmers/producers 

9 6 

6) Improves 
beneficiary/ user 
capacity and 
knowhow to 
appropriately use the 
core Innova<on 

Lack of technique for 
Rice-Fish innova<on  

Provide technical 
training to relevant 
stakeholder 

To train and promote 
technical knowledge and 
experience 

Farmers, extension 
personnels, relevant 
actors 

7 2 

7) Improves gender 
equality and social 
inclusion related to 
scaling the core 
innova<on 

Interest & willingness 
by youths & women 
due to the social 
norms and less 
aGrac<ve 
economically 

Create the young farmer 
champion to see farming 
as a business 

Design Training program 
that engages women 
and youth. 

Women and youth 

2 2 

8) Improves legal 
condi<ons and 
governance required 
to scale the core 
innova<on (by- laws, 
policies, regula<ons 
and business models 

 
Policy gaps (integrated 
rice-fish culture, only 
rice export policy)  

 

-  

Lobby the government 
regarding policy support 

To convince the 
government to adopt 
policy that support Rice-
Fish system. 

Government, NGOs, 
Private companies and 
farmers 

6 2 



9) Improves 
stakeholder 
coordina<on and 
scaling partnerships 

Farmer clusters are 
not established yet 

Establish farmer cluster 
connected to relevant 
stakeholders 

To link farmers with 
relevant stakeholders. 

Farmers, AC, MAC, 
NGOs, Government, 6 2 

Other enabler 
func<ons     -- -- 



   

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Partners