Partnership for Development of Kampuchea (Padek) is a Cambodian non-government organisation working to assist disadvantaged rural communities to improve their livelihoods and quality of life. Our goal is to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable and extreme poor households by supporting community savings, livelihood enhancement, disaster resilience and people’s participation in governance and gender equity.
At Padek we focus on working with poor people to develop and implement projects that respond to the needs of their community and directly benefits the most vulnerable households. We recognise that ‘Capacity building’ is no longer a sufficient response on its own to community development our approach is based on a combination of capacity building, problem analysis and understanding the underlying issues to ensure appropriate support is provided to communities. By providing opportunities for the rural poor to develop their knowledge, skills and resources, Padek’s work is helping to bring about positive change in the lives of poor people in rural areas. Padek currently works in 3 main project areas: community savings; livelihood enhancement; and disaster resilience.
Community Savings
Drawing on years of insights gained while fostering savings at the community level, Padek has launched a new phase in its support to the rural poor. “Saving Communities”, Padek’s new approach,will establish roughly 1000 new community savings groups that will provide a critical social safe tynet for approximately 14000 members and their families. These savings groups will mean that when families are buffeted with challenges like illness or failed crops, drawing on their savings can cushion the blow. Families can also take out short-term loans as a way to improve their livelihoods and to take advantage of new opportunities.
Livelihood Enhancement
Our livelihood program aims to improve household food security and incomes of the rural poor through supporting various livelihood options. Since rice is the mainstay of the Cambodian agricultural sector, training smallholder farmers on techniques that enable them to bring in greater harvests from the same piece of land can have dramatic effect. These techniques include the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method, promoting organic farming and tree planting. Padek also supports farmers to develop their on-farm and off-farm livelihoods through building knowledge and technical skills in horticulture, livestock production and aquaculture, and supporting farmers to branch into small businesses.
Disaster Resilience
Padek is helping communities to strengthen their resilience and capacity to cope with natural disasters and the effects of climate change. Events such as flooding and drought can have devastating effects on the rural poor In Cambodia. But by providing communities with the tools and knowledge to respond to and withstand natural disasters, it becomes easier for families to reduce
the impact on their lives and livelihoods and to recover when disaster strikes. Our activities are focused on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation programs, and Padek works in close collaboration with government agencies and other local organisations to ensure timely and appropriate responses in the event of disaster.
Working with the rural poor in Cambodia since 1986, Padek has gained significant experience, knowledge and expertise that we bring to our programming work. Our past work has focused on building and strengthening civil society organisations, implementing an integrated community development, and close collaboration with local authorities (Commune Councils and Village Development Councils) and government agencies to achieve our objectives. Through all our activities, we remain strongly committed to gender equity and diversity, advocacy, good governance, and disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
With offices in Phnom Penh and several provinces, our current activities work with the most vulnerable and extreme poor households in Prey Veng, Kratie, Oral, Kompong Speu, Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap. Previous projects have also worked with communities in Svay Rieng and Phnom Penh.