Preah Vihear– The sun has just emerged in the horizon but Cambodian farmer Tum Heng was already working in full swing in his vegetable garden. After watering the vegetables, he made his rounds fetching cow manure to spread on newly paved rows where yard-long bean and cucumber were going to be on. These will be the new additions to eggplant, cabbage, pumpkin and chili – just to name a few – that have already filled the sprawling garden within the compound of hi house in Teuk Kraham commune, Preah Vihear province in northern Cambodia. These days the 61-year-old man and his wife, Kuy Sameun, keep busy daily routines toiling hard to ensure food sufficiency for their family of six.

Battambang – Farmer Prak Chrin paced slowly as she dropped green bean seeds into shallow holes on the ground. Nearby, her son, a hoe in his hands, was carving up the holes for the seeds in the family’s new farmland in a far-flung northwestern part of Cambodia. Tucked in a hillside forest, the freshly-plowed field was once a shrubland infested with landmines. Now it is a ticket to a more stable future for the 50-year-old woman and her three sons. Rice, corn and bean are growing side by side on the land after it was swept clean of landmines and other explosive devices in June this year. “I am so glad to finally be able to use the land for crops,” Prak Chrin said.

Battambang –There is something unnerving about treading through a mango plantation in the village of Kouk Roka in Battambang province. A roped-off dirt trail indicates the hazard underfoot: undetonated landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Despite the indulgence of being led along a safe path by demining professionals wielding specialised dogs and equipment, there was a respectful hush among the visiting donors.

Preah Sihanouk – At their recent meeting, Kampenh commune officials in this coastal province of Cambodia were presented with a spider graph showing status of various development indicators. In the areas of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, the commune scored 25 out of 100 points. The obtained point is way below average of 50 and that means, on this front, local officials still have a lot to do in their work plan.

Kratie – Clean water is a commodity often hard to come by for Cambodians living in the countryside. For the most part, running water is simply unheard of. That is beginning to change now for many villagers in Kratie province, about 315 kilometers northeast of the capital Phnom Penh. Pumping systems powered by solar energy channel clean water straight into people’s homes that are not even connected to the main power grid. “My house was the first to get the running water,” Chhae Sokhaeng, a 37-year-old woman, said with a chuckle while washing vegetable to fix lunch. Turning off the faucet to halt the water, she added “it is just so convenient and saves a lot of time.”