Insights from Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA)

The Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) project has made significant progress in advancing work in the field of agroecology. One noteworthy initiative focuses on applied research and partnerships with diverse academic institutions and research organizations and plays a crucial role in supporting students with field assignments in Cambodia and welcoming researchers striving for practical solutions, aligning with the project's overarching aim of sustainable agricultural development.

The Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies project (S3), implemented by the National University of Battambang (NUBB) and Swisscontact concluded successfully in June 2023. The project aimed to introduce grafting technology for tomato farmers and implement cover crops in Cambodia.

The Royal University of Agriculture in Cambodia implemented the InGuider model to provide high-quality hands-on training to students in the agriculture sector through structured and centralized internships. Developed by the Faculty of Agriculture Engineering and Swisscontact, the model has been improved and aims to be institutionalized within the university.

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is committed to combating climate change and accelerating the transition to a climate-resilient, low-carbon sustainable mode of development. The Dei Meas initiative is currently making significant progress toward incentivizing smallholder farmers to transition toward agroecological practices and contribute to the efforts of the RGC, but ongoing efforts are needed to promote agroecological practices further.

There is a need for the Cambodian agriculture sector to reinvent itself by shifting from increased production through land expansion towards Regenerative Agriculture (Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification). However, bringing about this transition is not easy and requires multiple components to work in cohesion. Therefore, ISA along with partners, visualizes six systems that form a systemic approach, lighting up the pathway towards regenerative agriculture.

The future transformation of agriculture in Cambodia is visualized towards sustainable intensification, conservation agriculture and regenerative agriculture

Swisscontact in Cambodia embarks upon a preliminary assessment to systematically integrate Conflict Sensitivity in Project Management (CSPM) strategy and framework into their Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) project. This experience marks the first steps towards integrating CSPM into the bigger Inclusive Systems Development framework.

Bringing about change in an established system is not an easy task. It is even more difficult to bring about sustainable change, where the new systems operate smoothly even after the agent of change has abrogated. It is difficult, but not impossible. The key in establishing these sustainable structures is by imparting a strong sense of ownership over the change, having a capable public-private support, and setting up a proper market system that enable market actors to not only drive economic growth, but also to contribute to development policies. Therefore, one of the most effective ways to bring about sustainable change in the system is through public-private partnerships.

InGuider (Internship Guider) is a four-stage guideline in preparing and running a well-structured internship program for universities in Cambodia. This article features the experience of Swisscontact’s Mekong Inclusive Growth and Innovation Programme (MIGIP), in collaboration with Faculty of Agricultural Engineering (FAE) of Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), in implementing the InGuider model in Cambodia.

One of the initiatives born out of the Swisscontact’s four-year Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) project is the ISA Lab. The lab aims to contribute to the project’s objective to promote appropriate technologies and extension services for a sustainable intensification by primarily focusing on applied research. Through the Lab’s three workstreams: Workstream 1. Conduct applied research, Workstream 2. Support student research studies and Workstream 3. Facilitate research platform, the Lab will collaborate with research institutions and academia to conduct research and support students’ research on relevant topics.