Aunty Khel Khem, 63, is a member of an Older People’s Association (OPA) in Bak Amrek village, Battambang province. She was elected by her OPA to be the leader of the disaster risk reduction and climate change subcommittee, formed to implement a HelpAge Cambodia climate change project funded by Cambodian Climate Change Alliance.
Bak Amrek village has a river running through it and a great lake nearby, both of which regularly flood in the wet season (June to November). Through the OPA subcommittee, Khem and others learnt new farming techniques, including seed selection and flood safe gardening. They taught others in the village their new skills, resulting in more crops and less flood damage for the village as a whole.
Aunty Khem, on what she learnt through the Community Resistance to Climate Change project:
“My farming practice has totally changed. Since I am applying my new techniques for growing vegetables off the ground I can see the results. I have better yields with cucumbers, corns, long bean, green broccoli and more. While the products from the garden are for my family, I often have extra which I sell in the market. I use the money from selling the vegetables to buy meat or other important items. My family has a better income now.”
