WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 64

Standard Project Report 2016
Country Context and WFP Objectives
Country Context
The current economic growth has allowed Cambodia to attain lower middle-income country status, with GDP per
capita reaching USD 1,159 [1]. Over the past two decades, Cambodia has seen a significantly reduced poverty rate,
from 50 percent in 1992 to 13.5 percent in 2014 [2]. Ranked 143 out of 188 countries on the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) 2015 Human Development Index [3], Cambodia's growth is expected to remain
robust at around 7 percent, driven by solid performances in garment manufacturing, construction, tourism, and
production of food and cash crops. Cambodia achieved the World Bank's lower middle-income country status in
mid-2016, though it is recognised that human capital development and economic sustainability lag behind, thus
delaying the graduation from the United Nations' least developed country (LDC) rating.
Persistent gender inequality is measured in the Gender Inequality Index; Cambodia is ranked 105 out of 149
countries in the 2013 index. However, women are increasingly income generators, migrating from rural areas to
urban areas to work or starting small businesses from their homes. The number of women having primary
occupation in the private sector is higher than men in many provinces [4], particularly in the garment sector. Women
are typically employed at lower levels and paid less. It is estimated that on average, women are paid 30 percent
less than men for commensurate work [5].
Despite economic growth and current development in urban areas, rural development lags behind. Rural
communities, which make up 79 percent of the population, account for most of the country's poor [6]. A significant
proportion of Cambodians lives on the brink of poverty; it has been estimated that losing just USD 0.30 a day per
person in income would double the poverty rate [7]. This fragility means that increasingly frequent climate
Cambodia, Kingdom of (KH)
3
Country Programme - 200202