Project News

Project of Capacity Building for Quality Standard Control of Agricultural Materials (Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides) (QCAM Project) implemented the Nation-wide Campaign on Eradicating the Banned Pesticides from April 25th to May 1st, 2011 by developing and utilizing various materials. The materials include a TV spot and talk show, and a campaign banner, and its other extension materials such as a poster on banned pesticides and a catalogue on restricted and banned pesticides.

Before the campaign, the QCAM Project explained about the objective and method of the campaign to the representatives of all the 24 Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDA) and requested them to support the campaign by distributing the campaign materials like the poster, the catalogue and the campaign banner in their provinces (Photo 1).

On April 25th, the campaign was officially started by broadcasting the TV spot and talk show in two TV channels, National Television of Cambodia (TVK) and Bayon Television, as well as by distributing the campaign materials to pesticide shops, farmers, commune offices and markets. As for the TV spot and talk show, H.E. Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture mentioned that his Ministry would broadcast them more using the other TV channels, and directed Department of Agricultural Extension to do so. The campaign banners were hoisted in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) (Photo 2&3).

Photo 1: Preparation meeting for the campaign with representatives of all the 24 PDAs.

Photo 2: Campaign banner near the main entrance of the MAFF.

Photo 3: Campaign banner at the main gate of the GDA.

Photo 4: Counterpart (CP) who trains people selling agricultural materials in Koh Thom district of Kandal Province.

With regard to the campaign activities by the PDAs, the PDA of Kandal Province (where the QCAM Project has been working in Kien Svay and Koh Thom districts as its pilot areas) has implemented a training (Photo 4) and awareness raising activities (Photo 5&6) for retailers of agricultural materials and farmers not only in the two pilot districts, but also in the other districts.

Photo 5: People watching the campaign poster and banner in Saang district of Kandal Province.

Photo 6: People reading the campaign poster in Saang district of Kandal Province.

In order to support and monitor the PDA’s campaign activities, CPs and experts of the QCAM Project visited several provinces during the campaign period.
On April 25th, the first day of the campaign, we visited Orussey Market in Phnom Penh where many banned pesticides are sold, with staffs in the Department of Agriculture in Phnom Penh, and requested each pesticide shop to stop selling the banned pesticides (Photo 7&8). Our campaign yielded high attentions from people all over the country, thanks to the various TV coverage, project and PDA staff.

Photo 7: Campaign banner at the main entrance of the Orussey Market in Phnom Penh.

Photo 8: Dr. Kazuhiko Yagi, Chief Advisor of the QCAM Project and CP doing the campaign activities in the Orussey Market.

From April 26th to 29th, we visited 4 PDAs in Kompong Cham (Photo 9), Kompong Thom, Battambong (Photo 10&11) and Siem Reap (Photo 12) provinces and worked for the campaign together with PDA staff. Through our campaign activities with them, it was found out that fewer banned pesticides were sold in those provinces than in Kandal province and Phnom Penh.

In Battambong province, Agricultural Productivity Promotion Project in West Tonle Sap (APPP) and Battambong University as well as pesticide shops were visited, while in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Development Program (CDP) by German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) was visited because the QCAM Project has been cooperating with the CDP since 2010. We cordially thank the JICA experts of the APPP, their CPs, and staffs of the CDP for their kind support to the campaign.

Photo 9: CPs explaining about the catalogue on restricted and banned pesticides to a retailer in Kompong Cham.

Photo 10: CPs with the campaign banner in front of the PDA of Battambong.

Photo 11: CP hoisting the campaign banner at a pesticide shop in Battambong province.

Photo 12: Dr. Yagi checking pesticides in a pesticide shop near a project site of the CDP in Siem Reap province.

In addition to those 4 provinces mentioned above, campaign activities were actively implemented by the other PDAs. For instance, the PDA in Prey Veng requested 160 retailers of agricultural materials and 37 farmers to cooperate for the campaign by distributing the campaign materials, while the PDA in Takeo province did the same thing for 128 retailers. In case of the PDA in Svay Rieng, they invited the Provincial Governor, 77 farmers and 98 retailers to distribute the campaign materials and watch the video program on proper use and management of pesticides, which was given to the QCAM Project by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority in Department of Agriculture of the Philippines. Furthermore, the PDA in Pursat province distributed the campaign materials to 69 retailers in five districts, and implemented a training to enhance capacities related to procedures and techniques of selling agricultural materials for 54 retailers with support of Department of Agricultural Legislation (DAL) of the MAFF (Photo 13).

In conclusion, thanks to full support of the MAFF, the JICA Cambodia Office, people in the other projects and the TV stations, the QCAM Project has successfully completed the nation-wide campaign. The QCAM Project cordially thanks them for all that they did for the campaign. Although it might still take time, the QCAM Project and the MAFF will continuously make its best efforts to achieve our final goal of eradication of the banned pesticides.

Photo 13: Participants in the training by the PDA in Pursat province.

Written by Toshinori Hamaguchi, JICA Expert