About Progress Agriculture Bank.
In rural Cambodia, many families face hunger season for
five-six months of the year.
( Rice planting
season in Cambodia and the beginning of the hunger gap [ Aug-Nov] )
Progress Agriculture Bank .It is created by Sim Sao, live in
Pongro village, Kantreang Commune, Prasat Bakong district, Siem Reap province.
Progress Agriculture
Bank (PA), a bank have activated in village progress families and agricultural
sector for lending rice , seed, pigs,
cows as opposed to money.
First PAB provide
rice with very small interest rates, in order to work with poor families so
that they can survive living sustainably in the future,
what the village members do is divide up the husk rice in
the bank around this time of the year, each families getting around 100kg to
200kg each , depend on members of
family.
Then in November,
when the harvest comes in, they
pay back the husk rice they owed to the husk rice bank together with around 10%
interest e.g in another 10kg addition.
Second PAB provide pigs, cows for breeding during dry season.
Because of (free time) the families don’t have a rice harvest so PAB lend them
with piglet and small cows interest.
Our Vision:
Village, Commune
Development.
Our Mission: Part of the proceeds will go
towards supply for free education school ,
disaster in village.
Families Development, urge families let children attended
school earlier and reduce the work of children.
Our Goal:
Reduce hunger season, poor.
Location:
Our Progress Agriculture(PA) bank in Pongro Village just outside of Siem Reap
is able to help poor farmers have access to rice during the shortage period,
especially during the critical period such as the transplanting season. Members can rely on their bank for rice, food
and for seed. Through the rice bank, they not only have access to food, but
they are also able to concentrate on producing food. In case of natural
disaster, the affected families also receive help from the rice bank.
Previously farmers borrowed rice from private lenders with high
interest rates. Through their participation in the rice bank, they can borrow
rice with low-interest rate. In addition, the interest paid remains in the
hands of the community. Especially, for
poor and vulnerable families, the PA bank helps prevent them from falling into
debt due to the high interest rate charged by private money lenders. The objective of our Rice bank is not only to
help the community of Pongro village during periods of food scarcity, but also
to mobilize financial resources for community projects voted on by the village.
Generally,
the PA bank has a broad impact on the life of its members and on the whole
community. The PA bank not only helps to ensure food security, but it
contributes to the development of social capital, human resources at the local
level and community physical resources.
Families
in rural Cambodia regularly have to face drought and flood, so it becomes
really
important to find ways of making sure families have access to food all year
round. Rice is an essential staple to a Cambodian’s
diet. A 6-member family requires 5.5
pounds of polished rice per day (i.e. almost 2000 pounds per year). For the poor, this is such a great
quantity. Having access to a rice bank
also reduces the work of women who would otherwise have the labor-intensive
task of searching for food during periods of rice shortage. It makes our
Progress Agriculture Bank so important for the long-term sustainability of
rural communities.
