Lucie in Samrong with Vegetables
Hi my name is Lucie and I have been traveling around SE Asia to discover about natural farming. Through some contacts at OrganiKH Farm, I made a stop at the Green Shoots Agri Tech Center in Samrong. As I was mainly visiting permacultural or organic farms which are more family run farms, I wanted to observe another type of organization. The Green Shoots Agritech Centre is an NGO project run for the community.
My visit here was just over one week, giving me enough time to discover their activities, gardens and practices.
They are five peoples working in the center. Sarin, the Project Manager, who hosted me and which is running the center, teaching kids and working on the administrative part ; Loun a full time farm worker ; 2 interns from agricultural school in Battambang ; and Leonie a French long term volunteer.
As I’m not staying long time, I joined the activities in the center or with the interns which are making planting experimentations along the lines of Agroecology. I could learn about a new way to prepare the soil before planting, taking care of frogs, planting for experimentations or cleaning the gardens. This place is also a nice place for sharing and I could take some seeds from the plants to share them or bring back to France.
During my stay I was able to learn about the history of the area where the center is and understand the agricultural dynamic within the community. I had the chance to meet the founder of, Vivre de sa Terre, the NGO leading teaching for the two interns and we had nice exchanges about agroecology, practices and also the agricultural history in Cambodia.
I also spend an afternoon in the NGO Enfants du Mekong and really like the aims of this organization, providing accommodation, food and classes to kids who have difficulties go to school because of their low family incomes. They are also providing general life education and in this idea Agri Tech Center created garden there.
I was happy to discover this young place, the Agri Tech Center, is trying its best to develop sustainable agricultural practices in Samraong area bt working in partnership with different organisations. They do have energy and ideas which have to be develop in an agroecological way. I enjoyed the place, peoples, Samraong city and the welcoming.
Thanks for hosting me !
If you would like to volunteer in Cambodia then please email volunteer@greenshootsfoundation.org
