A farm-to-table experience is always one to be cherished. Not only are we presented with the best quality ingredients, hand picked but also cooked when they are in maximum flavour. You would think this to be a rare treat for London. However that could change? Read more »
In this blog you’ll get an update on recent changes in strategies and the setting up Green Shoots Resources Organization during the COVID 19 Pandemic. Read more »
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
By Léonie Regnault who is volunteering in Cambodia from Dec 2019- March 2020
It has been one month since I arrived in Cambodia and more particularly in Samraong, Oddar Meachney to work on Green Shoots Foundation Agritech Centre. I landed in Siem Reap in the beginning of December. I left the cold and rainy France for the hot and sunny Cambodia.
Read more »
The countdown on my computer screen tells me it is exactly 343 days since the Agritech Centre Launch, on 20 December 2018. A hot, sunny day in Samrong when 90 guests descended on to the recently completed site, experiencing a monk blessing, taking a site tour and enjoying a three course lunch.
The days that followed have been challenging and exciting. Our operations manager has spent nearly 4 months in Cambodia, working with our staff and a whole host of volunteers to get the AgriTech Centre running. To date we have four thriving green spaces, a regular traffic of approximately 80 secondary school students per week and around 10 farmer entrepreneurs accessing our services. Besides green spaces we also run mini projects such as frog raising, composting and eco building to demonstrate rural enterprises. Last but not least, in 2019 we received immense publicity for the project and the venerated award from AJ 100 for “Collaboration of the Year”. The image below shows the transformation we have achieved.
Our long-term vision is to create a close-loop on site. Which means utilising waste as much as possible and relying seldom on outside inputs. A key investment for this is the ATEC Biogas digester that we installed in 2018. It is connected to the WC to process waste into compost and give off biogas. Having clean cooking gas is a necessity on a farm project. In the last 12 months we have hosted multiple impromptu community lunches and volunteer parties. Many converging at the back of the site in what is called the “WC block”.
After discussion with the architects, we realised it is the nature of design and construction to give new meaning to structures. So in August 2019 we decided to commence a revamp of the WC block to now be The Roundhouse.
A swift retrofit will allow us to add features on the existing structure such as sturdy counter tops, blinds and screens for privacy and keeping the wind out. A detailed CGI link from Squire demonstrates it better. The kitchen conversion opens us up to conducting nutrition workshops and curbing foodwaste by processing what we grow.
On 21 November 2019 we had our annual fundraiser at Squire & Partners Upstairs space to announce the Roundhouse Revamp and collect pledges. We welcomed our guests with a signature cocktail made using flowers grown at the AgriTech Centre.
The martini was such a hit that it will go on the bar menu Upstairs, with a small contribution per purchase for Green Shoots!
The event was also an excellent opportunity to update supporters and friends on our progress on site, succinctly done by this video. Volunteers from UCL Volunteering Service enabled the evening to run smoothly.
Pledges were collected on beautiful hand-sketched cards and the evening ended with some Khmer music and dancing.
In one evening we reached a total of nearly GBP 1,465. We have a generous anonymous donor that has pledged to match the amount up to GBP 3,500.
We are now running an active online crowdfunding campaign to close the gap. Donations are accepted on this link: https://www.wonderful.org/appeal/agritechcentrecambodia-fc2a5ab0
Greetings from the Green Shoots Agri-Tech Site! Already referred to as “Mondol Kasikam” by the locals. This blog is long overdue as I have paused numerous times to encapsulate my emotions from when I first arrived on site and took in everyone’s hard work … to when I got stuck into the work myself until we had the big launch party on 20 December.
I might be biased, but I will honestly say no amount of insta-stories and photos prepare you for being on site! So let me backtrack.
Our time in Samrong has passed by very quickly and we are sad to say that this is our final post. Our focus for our last week was to conduct a number of meetings with the projects preferred contractor to discuss the project scope and expectations. These conversations will be continued by Green Shoots, CIDO and SAWA as they continue to work towards reaching a contractual agreement.
Whilst it has been evident from the start of our time in Oddar Meanchey, during our third week in Samraong we were presented two opportunities to witness just how respected the work of Green Shoots & CIDO is in the local community (main photo) Read more »
Week 2 and the deeper we immerse ourselves into the project the more absorbing it gets. From seeing early progress onsite, having discussions with a local contractor and seeing images shared by the Green Shoots team of bamboo screens being trialed in London – it’s exciting to think of what the Agri-Tech Centre can be. Read more »
Inspired by Green Shoots’ focus on economic empowerment and capability building to prevent and relieve poverty, we have arrived in Samrong town in North-west Cambodia to apply our experience in Architecture (Kate) and Human Resources (Cory) to assist with the development of a new Agri-Tech Training Centre.
Green Shoots has been partnering with CIDO on the development of a schools based program bringing sustainable farming skills to students across two local provinces since 2014. The Agri-Tech Training Centre will take this education program a step further and provide vocational training aimed at encouraging young people into viable careers in agriculture.
It is an exciting time for the project, with construction scheduled to commence in a couple of months and the CIDO team planning for enthusiastic students to start filing through the doors next year. To assist, we will be testing and prototyping materials prior to the build, assisting with contractor engagement and helping the CIDO team complete some initial planning for the transition into the new centre.
Since arriving in Samrong last Wednesday, we’ve been warmed by the enthusiasm and generosity of the CIDO team. Led by Ratana and Sarin, the team have been welcoming and patient as we learn about the project and Cambodian customs. No doubt making lots of mistakes along the way, such as failing to cheers before having each sip of beer over dinner! Actually that generosity has extended across the community in general. Most places we go, there are friendly people keen to chat or invite us along to a meal, a football game or another community event.
To crack in and get the hands dirty on day one, we picked up where Tom and Sakshi (volunteers who recently departed Samrong) left off with their brilliant work testing earth blocks. With direction and assistance from Sarin and Sokphea, we added to the Great Wall of Samrong, by building a second test wall using the earth blocks consisting of 6% and 11% concrete stabiliser. Sokphea proved to be the powerhouse of the team, for what she lacks in size she made up for in strength.
The new wall was quickly put to the test with some strong winds and heavy rain over the last few days. By monitoring for weathering and mortar/brick damage, we will gain an understanding of how the different compositions of the earth bricks perform. You will be relieved to read that so far so good!
Kate has since been busy gathering information about material availability and pricing while Cory has helped workshop key responsibilities for the CIDO team in the Centre. We have started to feel settled into our Samraong routine. It feels like our time here is flying and we are looking forward to working hard over the next few weeks to maximise our contribution to what will be a fantastic project.
Any contribution to help fund the centre and would be warmly welcomed here: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/greenshoots10nov