Before 2014, Mr. Hak grew rice and also collected palm juice from trees and made palm sugar.
Even with two sources of income, it was difficult for him to earn enough money to support his family. One of his children dropped out of school and started to work as a motorbike mechanic to find yet another way to provide for his family.
In 2014, Hak transitioned from making palm sugar to growing vegetables because as he got older, it became too difficult for him to climb the palm trees. He decided to start growing vegetables, but did not have the knowledge or skills to do so successfully. Even though Mr. Hak did not know to exactly go about this, decided to take the risk and hope for a positive outcome.
The following year, Hak heard about World Renew’s partner, Khmer Association for Development of Raising Animals (KADRA), and their work in his community. Mr. Hak was eager to learn agriculture techniques, so he asked community leaders if he could attend some of the training sessions that were being offered. After the sessions with KADRA on vegetable growing and chicken raising, Hak applied what he had learned and finally started to see successful results.
Mr. Hak later expanded his vegetable plots by using land that was unused in the past and with new confidence, took advantage of all the resources he now had. At the same time, he started raising chickens and a few cows. He was now able to support his family’s needs with his income, as he earned even more than what he had expected from growing vegetables!
“I am happy to say thank you to KADRA who brought new agricultural techniques to teach me and my community. With these techniques, we were able to have success in farming and improve our living conditions,” Hak said.
Through World Renew and its partners, farmers like Mr. Hak are able to learn and experience powerful economic and social change that will launch them, and their communities, out of poverty. We welcome your generous support as we, through God’s grace, work to give opportunities for all people to grow in skills and knowledge to create a better, more equal, more prosperous future for themselves and their families.