In a move to bolster Cambodia’s freshwater aquaculture market system, Commercialization of Aquaculture for Sustainable Trade (CAST)-Cambodia, representing ASA’s WISHH program, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fisheries Administration (FiA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on March 3, 2020.

CAST-Cambodia and the FiA/MAFF agreed to collaborate in several areas to improve the productivity and profitability across the value chains of Cambodia’s freshwater aquaculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food for Progress Program funds CAST, including its work through this new public-private partnership to cooperate over the next three years. Activities include training fish producers, processors and sellers on reducing production costs, increasing quality and promoting fish raised in Cambodia.

The FiA encourages farmers to produce local fish and is expanding the local market to include sanitary and phytosanitary standards for fish and fish products. CAST and FiA promote and teach good aquaculture practices and principles that help improve the fish-farming sector and transfer technical knowledge to fish farmers and the markets that buy their fish.