Siem Reap, KH – Family garden continues to thrive and earn income – 2 Oct 2015

Mr. SOL and his wife are the proud parents of five grown children, two of which work with the Peaksneng Thormacheat garden shop in the village. The last story about the SOL family tells how starting a Food Always In The Home (FAITH) organic vegetable garden helps the family grow nutritious vegetables and earn extra income. They are continuing to slowly make their way out of the depths of poverty by maintaining a thriving garden and participating in the Peaksneng Thormacheat shop’s micro-loan program.

Mrs. Sol is the primary gardener in the family and she enjoys planting their garden with long beans, basil, spring onion, gourd, eggplants and morning glory because these are the most demanded vegetables in the area. The garden is now at a point where it provides enough vegetables for the entire family’s vegetable consumption, which means that they don’t need to spend money at the market buying vegetables. On top of saving money by producing their own vegetables, they are able to sell on average US$3.50 to US$4.50 worth of vegetables a day!  The family is using this money to contribute to their grandchildren’s education and to buy basic necessities.

The garden shop’s micro-loan program enables families to start businesses or buy livestock that can double and even triple their daily income. The SOL family utilize the program to buy ducks and piglets to fatten and sell at the market. Recently, they were able to pay off their first loan with the garden shop and earn a profit. They are very skilled at raising chickens, ducks, and pigs and are creating a consistent demand in the village for their healthy poultry.

Currently in Cambodia, there is an outbreak of blue-ear pig disease, which causes reproductive failure in breeding stock and respiratory tract illness in young pigs, so the family are putting a hold on applying for another micro-loan to purchase piglets until the outbreak is over.  In the meantime, they are continuing to raise chickens and ducks and plan to expand their garden before the end of the year.

In 2017, they want to increase their earning potential with additional livestock investments and save enough money to repair their home.