Agriculture

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – December 02, 2025: A new NZD$12 million project designed to boost rural household incomes and ensure child well-being through climate-resilient horticulture was announced on November 29, 2025, at an event presided over by New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, alongside Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

In Montepuez district, 10 displaced adolescents and young people established a cooperative for the sustainable production of oyster mushrooms, using agricultural waste. The first production cycle, supported by the YEE II project, resulted in 21.7 kg of mushrooms sold to the local company RW Machambas. The cooperative members benefited from training in financial management and operational control, and mushroom production offers environmental and nutritional benefits for the community.

Save the Children has handed over its coastal resilience project to 12 communities in Pujehun and Bonthe. The project improved livelihoods, protected mangroves, and empowered locals through VSLAs, eco-friendly ovens, and training. Communities now lead the way forward.

Aaden*, a ten-year-old boy in the third grade, lives with his family in a rural village in Ethiopia’s Somali region. He is the fourth of seven children in a household that depends on small-scale farming and livestock for survival. In recent years, recurrent droughts have severely impacted their livelihood, decimating their animals and threatening their food security. With support from Save the Children’s Anticipatory Action initiative, funded by Save the Children Italy, the family received improved animal feed, farming tools, and technical assistance. These resources enabled them to grow nutrient-rich fodder, improving their livestock’s health and offering a more stable and hopeful future.Aaden*’s mother, Fawzia*, a resilient 43-year-old, plays a vital role in sustaining the family. As a member of a community fodder producers’ group supported by the same initiative, she received Sudan grass seedlings, farm tools, and a water-pumping generator shared among group members. On her half-hectare plot, she cultivated improved fodder that significantly boosted the health and productivity of their animals. The resulting increase in milk yields has not only nourished her children but also provided surplus to sell, generating extra income and strengthening the family’s resilience against climate shocks.

Every day I worked hard, but the weather, the seeds, and the old methods always worked against me. With the right knowledge and support, I can now see the fruits of my labor.

I’m no longer just a mother and wife; I am also a farmer contributing to the success of our household. I hope more women like me can receive the same kind of support because when women farmers are empowered, it’s not just their lives that change it’s the whole family, the whole community. When women succeed, everyone benefits.

Principally funded by the Green Climate Fund, with co-financing from Save the Children Italy, Norad, the Government of Mozambique, and AEROMAP, LINK will integrate climate adaptation investments through Local Adaptation Plans into social protection via the Productive Social Action Program (PASP), enhancing Mozambique's Adaptive Social Protection framework. The project aims to increase the climate resilience of 415,000 people, particularly those most vulnerable, to prepare for, cope with, adapt to, and improve their food and water security and well-being, ensuring they do not fall deeper into poverty.