The Ministry of Commerce and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have successfully concluded the annual supervision mission for the Accelerating Inclusive Markets for Smallholders (AIMS) project, held from December 1-12.
The mission reviewed progress across the project’s 18 target provinces and identified new opportunities to strengthen market access, production systems and value chain partnerships for Cambodian smallholder farmers.
AIMS, implemented by the ministry, is a joint initiative of the Royal Government of Cambodia and IFAD, and aims to accelerate the inclusive growth of markets for higher value agricultural products and the development of associated local clusters through which poorer smallholder producers can benefit.
To date, AIMS has reached 94,499 rural households, surpassing its original outreach target of 88,200 by 2027. The project is supporting smallholders through improved production practices, enhanced market facilitation and strengthened commercial partnerships
“AIMS is progressing well thanks to strong collaboration across provinces and with our private-sector partners. With the additional financing, we will further strengthen business clusters and market linkages to deliver greater benefits for smallholder farmers,” said Eng Sothyvon, project director and director-general of the ministry’s General Department of Domestic Trade (GDDT).
The project’s mobilisation of smallholder farmers into business clusters continues to advance, with 347 business clusters formed and an 84% adoption rate of improved production technologies among participating farmers. As of October 2025, AIMS has facilitated 905 buy-and-sell contracts across premium rice, safe vegetables, spices, Khmer chicken, and cassava value chains. The cumulative value of commodities traded under these contracts has reached $224 million.
As of October 2025, AIMS had facilitated a total of 905 purchase and sales contracts across value chains for premium rice, safe vegetables, spices, native chickens, and cassava, with a total value of approximately $224 million.
During field visits across six provinces, IFAD and Project teams met with producers, business clusters, traders and provincial departments to assess market linkages, infrastructure utilization, production constraints, and access to technical and financial services.
Opportunities identified included strengthening cluster business plans and production scheduling; accelerating the use of market-related infrastructure under the Sector Development Facility; expanding private-sector investment through the Value Chain Innovation Fund; and addressing technical challenges such as chilli disease management, poultry vaccination and seed quality.
Frew Behabtu, IFAD country director, noted that the AIMS project has made steady progress in strengthening market-oriented production, with business clusters increasingly linking smallholder farmers to buyers across key value chains.
“The supervision mission confirmed both tangible results and clear opportunities to further strengthen planning, infrastructure use and private-sector engagement. Building on these lessons will be important to deepen commercial linkages and address remaining production and service gaps,” he said.
AIMS also continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to gender inclusion. Women represent more than 62% of all project outreach.
The ministry and IFAD will continue to work closely to advance the implementation of the AIMS Project, with the next implementation support mission planned for April 2026, followed by a full supervision mission scheduled for November–December 2026.
