Agriculture and Food Processing

Overview

Cambodia’s agriculture sector employed approximately 3.1 million individuals, accounting for 33.4 percent of the total workforce in 2023, according to the 2023 Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey. The primary agricultural commodity is rice. Other key agricultural items include rubber, cassava, cashew nuts, maize, mangoes, fresh bananas, pepper, mung bean, soybean, and others. As a matter of policy, the Cambodian government encourages investment in agriculture, diversification of agricultural products, agro-processing, and investment in improved irrigation and water control. The sector accounted for approximately 16.7 percent of GDP in 2024. The Cambodian Rice Federation has set a goal of exporting 750,000 tons of milled rice in 2023 and one million tons by 2025. In 2024, Cambodia exported 651,522 tons of milled rice. The Royal Government, through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has allocated multiple financing packages to the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) to support agricultural production and exports. As of mid-2025, ARDB has extended approximately $440 million in loans to Cambodia’s agricultural sector. Currently, ARDB offers a diverse portfolio of loan products, including the Green Loan, loans to SMEs in agriculture, loans to rice sector stakeholders, wholesale loans to financial institutions, loans to small farmers, and loans to agricultural cooperatives. In June 2022, the Law on Food Safety was enacted, which set out a framework and mechanism to ensure health and food safety fo

Leading Sub-sectors

In 2025, Cambodia seeks to enhance trade and investment opportunities in nine strategic agricultural commodities: rice, cashews, rubber, cassava, mangoes, vegetables, aquaculture products, pepper, and sustainable wood. This initiative is to be showcased at the inaugural Cambodia Agriculture Exhibition and Forum 2025, scheduled for November 13 to 16. This is the first Agricultural Exposition held by the Cambodian government.

Opportunities

Higher quality seeds, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs, equipment and new technology – such as spraying machines, pest identification drones, cold storage systems, and other equipment and training – would greatly benefit the agriculture sector, which is slowly becoming modernized. There are also opportunities for the establishment of processing and packaging plants to add value to basic products for export and domestic consumption. With Cambodia trying to diversify its export market, food safety technology has been in great demand. With limited application of Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures, a significant number of Cambodian products continue to be excluded from export markets due to poor hygiene in handling and other contamination concerns.

Resources

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

• Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation

• Council for the Development of Cambodia

• Cambodia Rice Federation

• World Bank Report June 2022
   

Table: Rice Production and Exports, Unit: In Tons

Data Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodian Rice Federation and Mekong Oryza