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Cambodia Makes Aquatic Foods a Game Changing Priority

In the recently launched Second Roadmap for Food Systems for Sustainable Development 2025–2030, Cambodia has continued its focus on placing fish and other aquatic foods at the heart of Cambodia’s nutrition agenda.

Chea Kong (left) coordinates with local authorities to open the watergate in Santuk District, Kampong Thom, managing water flows that sustain both rice fields and community fish refuges. Photo: WorldFish.

Cambodia has made aquatic foods a national priority, naming fish and other aquatic foods as one of six “Game-Changing Actions” in its Second Roadmap for Food Systems for Sustainable Development 2025–2030. The decision builds on more than a decade of work by WorldFish and partners, including over 160 Community Fish Refuges, improved management of more than 200,000 hectares of rice-fish landscapes, and integrated farming systems that are strengthening food security, nutrition and incomes for rural families.

Under the CGIAR Scaling for Impact Program, WorldFish and partner IIRR have been linking smallholder fish producers in Kampong Thom and Prey Veng to the School Meal Program through agricultural cooperatives. Communities have been trained to produce nutrient-dense small fish powder for school meals, and five cooperatives are now supplying locally produced fish and vegetables to schools, helping connect local production to public food systems while improving children’s diets.

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Authors: Sok Sao, Mam Kosal, David Wardell