Friend -

In the dry winter months in the Pursat province of Cambodia, the rice fields lie flat, brown, and barren, and the wind whips dust around. Under the bright-blue, sunny skies, there's not much activity in the rice fields at this time of year.

But for Chhin Saren, a lifelong rice farmer, there's still a lot of work to do at her home in Pit Rang village - the Lunar New Year is coming. And that means people will want chickens.

For Saren, a mother of two daughters, raising poultry is a relatively new line of work. She got serious about it two years ago after attending a training program with Srer Khmer, Oxfam's partner in Pursat.

Together with Oxfam and Srer Khmer, you are helping farmers like Saren in Pursat to pursue several complementary activities: raising livestock like chicken or pigs produces organic fertilizer for rice and vegetable fields; rice straw is good mulch for vegetable gardens; and vegetable stalks and the trunks of banana trees are good feed for chickens. Srer Khmer is helping 5,250 farmers in this initiative - 75 percent of them are women.

Friend - around the world, women struggle to get the training, financing, and equipment they need to build a business and work their way out of poverty. With your support, Oxfam is able to help women like Saren get these resources and drive sustained improvements for their communities.

Read more about Oxfam's work helping women in Cambodia and in more than 90 countries around the world:
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Slowly, Saren started to integrate all these ways of farming. First, Srer Khmer invited her to join one of Oxfam's Saving for Change groups, which helps women form a village bank and start saving small amounts of money. The group eventually pools enough to make small loans to their members, which the members use to buy seeds, tools, and, in Saren's case, chickens.

Business is good for Saren - she invested in a hatchery and heater, and her chicken operation earned her about $2,000 last year. "In just the last three months I have bought a new motorbike [$750], installed new fencing, and constructed a new latrine," she says.

With her rice profit and a loan from her savings group, Saren then started raising and selling chickens to create some income during the dry season. This integrated approach is making a difference for her and her daughters. "Without the training I would never be doing all this," Saren says. "I thank [Srer Khmer] so much for this knowledge."

Saren is now helping Srer Khmer train other women. "Nothing makes me happier than sharing this knowledge with other women in the village," she says.

Friend - with your help, Oxfam and our partners are helping farmers through multiple initiatives, including Saving for Change groups, training programs like the one with Srer Khmer, and more. We're working to combat issues of poverty from every angle - and we couldn't do it without you.


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