The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.

Agricultural commercialisation is a process that involves the transformation of subsistence-oriented smallholder farming systems into systems that are primarily oriented toward production for the market. Agricultural production is no longer viewed merely as the means to meet household consumption requirements, drawing on local resources, but becomes the household"s main incomegenerating activity, tying farmers into the wider market economy, not only through the sale of farm commodities, but through the purchase of inputs, labour, assets, credit, and consumer goods. This process is part of an agrarian transition driven by economic growth and development, global market integration, and increasing global demand for farm products. Cash crop booms have been a significant catalyst for the process, spurring farmers to invest in commercial agriculture, though often with considerable risk and disruption. Some claim agricultural commercialisation is a pathway out of poverty for rural households, while others highlight the darker site of commercialisation in terms of widening inequality and the marginalisation and exclusion of disadvantaged households.Agricultural commercialisation has been underway in Cambodia for several decades. There has been a rapid transition from subsistence to semi-commercial and commercial production as indicated by the expanding area of commercial crops, production increases, and export growth. This transition has been closely linked to booming demand for agricultural commodities such as cassava within the Asian region. This raises the question whether the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture in Cambodia has had positive impacts on farmers" livelihoods through improving their productivity, income, and resilience, thus contributing to inclusive economic growth.The aim of this research was to explore the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture in Cambodia through a case study of responses to and impacts of the cassava boom. The specific objectives were to: (i) understand the role of the cassava boom in the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture in Cambodia; (ii) appraise the economic viability (profitability and riskiness) of smallholder cassava production; (iii) evaluate the impacts of commercial cassava production on farmers" livelihoods; (iv) trace the livelihood trajectories of different types of rural household as a consequence of the cassava boom; (v) identify options to ensure agricultural commercialisation contributes to more inclusive agricultural growth.The study used Agrarian Systems Analysis (ASA) as a framework. ASA encompasses a set of techniques to understand and diagnose farm-household systems, the agrarian systems in which they are embedded, and longer-term processes of agrarian change. In particular, ASA highlights the importance of understanding the connection between commercialisation and agrarian differentiation, whereby farm households can end up on contrasting livelihood trajectories. Within iii this framework, a comparative case study approach was ...

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.

Farmers' lack of access to both working and investment capital is considered one of the major factors hindering the transition from low-input agricultural systems to more productive commercial ones (ACI 2005). Rice productivity in Cambodia is significantly constrained by low application of agricultural inputs, notably fertiliser, mechanisation, and irrigation (ACI 2005; World Bank 2007). Improving access to rural credit would be a significant step forward for smallholder agricultural development in the country. While there has been a boom in microfinance in Cambodia (CMA 2011), the impact on smallholder farmers remains limited, mainly due to the risks posed by insecure land tenure and uncertain returns to on-farm investment. Understanding the pattern of credit access and the way it affects rice farmers' borrowing and investment decisions could usefully inform policy options to improve the viability of rural credit delivery. The hypothesis of this study was that ready access to credit raises rice farmers' productivity and farm income, thus improving the well-being and reducing the vulnerability of rural households. The study sought to (a) understand the patterns and characteristics of credit access of different farmers, (b) investigate the impact of credit on farmers' production and

No abstract