| Livelihoods |
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Despite receiving significant aid since 1991, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and more than half the population – concentrated primarily in rural areas where livelihoods opportunities are limited - continues to survive on less than one US dollar a day. Through our holistic community development approach, BABC provides targeted assistance to the poorest Cambodians in both urban and rural parts of the country to help expand their capabilities and access to livelihood opportunities.
Kep Project
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
One of the most highly successful initiatives is the “animal pass-on” program, whereby villagers are provided with training on animal husbandry and livestock, including cows, pigs, and chickens. Participants in these programs receive animals to raise and breed and then pass on two of the offspring to two other families. The pass-on programs are self-sustaining and multiplying, and they are contributing to improved food security and household income, while also fostering cooperation and solidarity throughout the community. Following an exposure trip to Sustainable Cambodia in Pursat, thirty families also adopted the model of fish-raising in their home ponds and began to implement a fish pass-on program in early 2010.
Women’s Empowerment
WHADA is comprised of women from four different cooperative enterprises that the project helped establish – EcoSew, EcoWeave, Econut, and Funky Junk. Working together, the material or “krahmas” produced by the weavers is also used by the sewing group to make handicrafts including pillowcases, handbags, wallets, headbands, and jewelry. Unique buttons are incorporated from the Econut group,
In 2009, five participants were sent to Kandal province to study soap making. One of the trainees has since created a successful small business making soap – creatively scented from flowers grown in her own garden – that she is able to sell to community members during health events, to local guesthouses, and to village guests via the community shop. Other women make liquid soap for use in their homes and for sale in the local market, creating an income for their families while also improving hygiene and the poor sanitation conditions that result in poor health.
More on the Women’s Handicraft and Development Association (WHADA)
Family Dream Initiative
Sustainable Tourism
More on Kep Sustainable Tourism Initiatives
Livelihoods Support for Evicted Communities
After an incredible response to our appeal to help victims of the forced eviction of the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh that took place in January 2009, including several major fundraisers held at the United World College of Southeast Asia (UWCSEA) and South Sydney High School, BABC raised nearly $20,000 support the livelihoods of evicted families. These funds allowed us to provide a range of supportive services to the community. We partnered with the Cambodian human rights organization, LICADHO Cambodia, to provide immediate humanitarian relief following the eviction, including food, temporary housing, medicine, and trauma counseling to 35 families for one month. We also partnered with Aziza and Global Village to provide transportation into the city, breakfast and lunch to more than 30 students for the remainder of the school year, enabling them to continue their education in the absence of a secondary school near the relocation site.
Back to Community Development Program
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A part of the four-pronged program in our Kep Project – to improve education, health, livelihoods and sustainability – the heart of the Livelihoods program is found at the Community Vocational Training Center (CVTC). Inherited from the original UNESCO project, the CVTC was designed as a focal point for vocational skills training and livelihoods activities, including handicraft production, agriculture and animal husbandry. The center encompasses 10 hectares of land with seven buildings that have been transformed into classrooms, staff and volunteer accommodation, handicraft production workshops and a shop for selling community products. There is also volunteer accommodation called the “Red House” providing living arrangements for up to eight long-term volunteers. In addition to transforming the existing buildings, we have cultivated the mango and jackfruit orchards, created a community fish pond, and irrigated plots of land for use by the poorest families who do not have adequate land to ensure their own food security. 
As in other rural villages throughout Cambodia, the vast majority of households in Chamcar Bei still rely on farming for their livelihoods and sustenance. The CDP provides training and support to local farmers in an effort to modernize outdated and ineffective farming practices, diversify crops, reduce harmful pesticide use and increase agricultural yields. Hundreds of community members have been trained on agricultural techniques, including System of Rice Intensification (SRI), vegetable growing, raising of livestock and compost making. Working together with the community, a demonstration farm was created for villagers to learn how to grow different crops like corn, cassava, cabbage, sugar cane, string beans, tomatoes and chili. The project also constructed a water gate and over 1,000 meters of canal to help improve irrigation and flood control.
As is common throughout much of the world, women and girls in Cambodia are often not afforded the opportunity to gain a decent education. As a result, women often lack basic skills to find a good job or start their own business. With few employment opportunities in the villages, many young women migrate to commercial hubs seeking unskilled work, which renders them vulnerable to exploitation. To address this situation, BABC has undertaken a women’s empowerment initiative through the formation of Self Help Groups, small business and vocational training sessions, gender awareness, and the establishment of the Women’s Handicraft and Development Association (WHADA). 
whose handmade coconut products also include pendants, earrings, and Christmas decorations. Funky Junk, a joint project with non-profit tour operator Carpe Diem, is an innovative enterprise that produces functional and fun items from used plastic bags. The plastic is reclaimed and recycled from the roads and fields in and around Chamcar Bei, reducing the amount of plastic that is burned (a leading cause of respiratory illness in the village) and providing a sustainable, community-based livelihood for the producers. 
The Family Dream initiative was developed to ensure our programs are reaching the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community – families with a high incidence of food insecurity, poor health and inadequate housing. This initiative aims to develop an in-depth understanding of these families, focusing on their potential and their goals - instead of just their problems. At the start of the project, 25 of the poorest families in Chamcar Bei were selected to participate in the Family Dream initiative and were encouraged to identify their own dreams and attainable goals for the near future. The project now supports these families in achieving their goals by engaging them in different project activities and helping them to achieve an overall improvement of their quality of life.
Over the years the project has cooperated with Family Dream families, as well as international volunteers, to build and/or repair homes for families identifying improved housing as one of their primary goals. Of the families growing vegetables at the CVTC, eight are members of the Family Dream initiative who had the desire to grow vegetables, but were not able to do so at their homes due to lack of arable land or irrigation. Through growing vegetables at the CVTC, as well as managing the fruit tree orchards, each family has been able to increase their food security and meet other basic needs. Additionally, eight families have been trained and coached to grow vegetables at their homes, 13 families have participated in the animal pass-on program, 19 families received bicycles from the Kep Trio, and 22 families formed their own Self Help Group. The SHG allows members to build up their capital and provide access to micro-credit with low interest rates. Working together also increases solidarity between the poorest families and provides them with an important support network. Following on the successes of previous years, an additional 20 of the poorest families were selected to join the project in 2010. 
Each year thousands of tourists flock to the towns of Kep and Kampot on the South coast of Cambodia. While most of them remain near the sea, only the occasional adventurous tourist ventures inland and wanders into Chamcar Bei village, where BABC has been supporting community development efforts since 2007. Acknowledging the potential of tourism to support the local economy, earlier this year BABC began working together with the Chamcar Bei community to put their village on the map as a destination for sustainable tourism. 
In 2010, the second forced relocation of many Dey Krahorm residents to the remote area of Oudong resulted in an almost complete loss of livelihoods for the evicted families. With a lack of sufficient farmland, these families must rely on employment or entrepreneurship to make a living. However, the remote area of Oudong offers few employment opportunities, and there is little affordable credit or support for small business entrepreneurs, posing major challenges for these families to make a living. To help these families get back on their feet and make a plan to support themselves, BABC has established a Micro-Credit project to promote economic opportunities for the many evicted families now living in the Sres Chrey relocation community in Oudong.