World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 5

World Food Policy - Volume 2, Issue 2/Volume 3, Issue 1, Fall 2015/Spring 2016

Food Security in Rural Cambodia and Fishing in the
Mekong in the Light of Declining Fish Stocks
Rebecca HartjeA, Dorothee BühlerA & Ulrike GroteA
Fishing in the Mekong River is of utmost importance for rural livelihoods in
parts of Cambodia. As a result of ecosystem changes, fish stocks are expected
to decline. Using data on 600 rural households collected in two waves in 2013
and 2014 in the province of Stung Treng, we assess the current situation of
food security in relation to fishing. To proxy food security, we consider energy
and protein intakes as well as Food Security Indexes. Quantitative results show
that fishing households had a more nutritious diet in the past week, are more
engaged in subsistence activities and had lower additional food expenditure.
Furthermore, fishing is effective in reducing seasonal food insecurity for
households in the lowest income quartile. In the light of declining fish stocks
these findings underscore the need for fishing households to adjust their
income earning activities to the expected changes. We call for policymakers to
account for the most fish-dependent groups of the population when designing
or adjusting development policies for the area that could potentially affect fish
stocks.
Keywords: Cambodia, Fishing, Mekong River, Nutrition, Food Security
Indicators

Introduction

annually. The majority of Cambodian
fishers are engaged in small- to mediumscale fisheries which supply the largest
part of the annual catch volume (Van
Zalinge et al. 2000). Along with the
importance of fish, agriculture remains
the most significant source of income in
rural Cambodia. In this context fishing
can be viewed as a means of diversification
to reduce risk or mitigate the impact of
crop failure (Baran 2005; Smith, Nguyen
Khoa, and Lorenzen 2005). Besides its
cultural importance and influence on

F

ish is without doubt the second
most important food next to rice in
Cambodia. As much as 75% to 79%
of the annual consumption of animal
protein is supplied by fish and as many
as 39% of Cambodian households have
at least one member engaged in fishing
(Ahmed et al. 1998; Israel et al. 2007).
According to Baran (2005), Cambodia is
the most intensive inland fishery in the
world with ~20 kg of fish per capita caught

A

Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany.
doi: 10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.2
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