Siem Reap, KH – MRL’s garden earns much needed income

MRL lives with his wife, their three children, and two grandchildren in Peaksneng Village in Cambodia. Since joining the Peaksneng Garden Shop’s organic vegetable program he has built and maintained a productive garden that earns them approximately US$35 a month.

MRL has been farming for over twenty years and has relied on more conventional agriculture techniques to farm his small plot of land. Changing weather and increasing prices of inputs have made farming difficult for him and his neighbors. He was desperate to find a way to grow vegetables that didn’t rely on expensive chemicals.

After his neighbors, the CWC family, built and had great success with their garden, he came to the Peaksneng Garden Shop and applied for one of his own. The shop team helped him build a garden and taught him the importance of taking care of the soil, something he had not previously thought about. His garden was productive and allowed him to earn extra income and feed his family healthy vegetables. He has since expanded the organic principles he learned to his larger farm where he grows eggplant, cassava, and long beans.

MRL is anxious to increase his income earning capacity and has applied for a pig fattening micro-loan. He is excited to have the pig manure so that he can make better quality compost to improve his soil further. He plans to use any profit he makes to improve his home so that his family have a more secure place to sleep.