Women farmers and Indigenous community representatives have called for stronger land tenure security and greater involvement in land-use decisions, as Cambodian officials acknowledged challenges in collective land registration and announced an 18-month extension of a national land allocation project, until mid-2028.
The issues were raised during the “Women Farmer at the Center: Land Use, Agro-Ecology, and Climate Resilience in Asia”, regional workshop, which opened at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction on October 14.
The four-day gathering, held in conjunction with the 2026 International Year of Women Farmers, brought together government officials, indigenous peoples, women farmers, civil society organisations and development partners from across Asia.
Soeung Saroeun, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia and chair of the International Land Coalition Asia (ILC Asia) Steering Committee, stressed that women’s contributions to agricultural production remained disproportionate to their access to land and decision-making opportunities.
“For me, land is life, land is livelihood, land is love, and land is our heritage,” he said, describing land as central to both economic survival and cultural identity.
Saroeun said women accounted for more than 60 per cent of the agricultural workforce across Asia, with their participation reaching 70 to 80 per cent in some areas, while women’s land ownership remained below 15 per cent.
“We must ensure that women farmers’ voices are not only heard, but also considered and incorporated into decision-making,” he said.
He urged governments and development partners to translate workshop discussions into practical action plans backed by adequate resources.
Anu Verma, ILC Asia regional coordinator, said women farmers possessed the knowledge and capacity to address agricultural challenges but frequently lacked recognition and authority over productive resources.
“Women farmers do not lack knowledge, they do not lack courage or solutions,” she noted.
“What they too often do not have or lack is the recognition, the needed action and the power to make decisions about the land and the resources on which their lives depend,” she added.
Verma welcomed Cambodia’s efforts to advance land registration and tenure security, while calling for stronger implementation to ensure legal recognition translated into meaningful protection for women and communities.
During a national policy plenary discussion, He Sophannara, deputy director-general at the land management ministry, outlined the government’s progress in systematic land registration.
“Since 2002, approximately 14 million land parcels have been surveyed nationwide,” he said, adding that more than 10 million ownership titles had been issued.
He explained that the registration process included land surveys, boundary verification, a 15-day public display of information, administrative decisions and title issuance.
The process also recorded whether property belonged individually to a husband or wife or was jointly owned, he said, encouraging both women and men to participate in verifying ownership information.
However, Indigenous community representatives highlighted concerns that formal registration progress had not eliminated difficulties surrounding customary and collective land.
Klan Sarit, a Jarai Indigenous woman from Ratanakiri province, explained that land was inseparable from the forests, cultural practices and traditional livelihoods of Indigenous communities.
“For indigenous peoples, land is not only for agriculture or growing crops,” she said.
“We have a saying: The forest is our husband, the land is our wife, and natural resources are our relatives,” she added.
Sarit described traditional rotational farming systems in which families cultivated numerous crop varieties, including rice, vegetables and medicinal plants.
She said Indigenous farmers traditionally grew at least 30 crop varieties in a single field, with some cultivating more than 60.
However, she warned that the expansion of commercial crops, including cashew nuts, cassava and rubber, was transforming traditional farming practices and increasing dependence on external markets.
The transition had also contributed to the loss of traditional seeds, which she described as particularly resilient to changing climatic conditions.
Sarit raised concerns about the effects of economic land concessions on customary farming areas and spiritually significant forests, while highlighting community initiatives to restore traditional crops and protect cultural heritage.
The plenary discussion also examined agricultural support programmes and women’s participation in government services.
Hor Sopor, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the government had deployed approximately 1,600 commune agricultural officers, around 40 per cent of whom were women.
She reported that 41 modern agricultural cooperatives have been established, although women accounted for only around 10 per cent of their leadership.
The figures illustrated the continuing gap between women’s participation in agricultural activities and their representation in leadership positions.
Participants subsequently discussed access to affordable credit, agricultural inputs, processing facilities and markets, alongside women-led agroecology, traditional seed conservation and climate finance.
Questions were also raised about administrative delays affecting indigenous collective land registration and the implementation of the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project III (LASED III).
In his closing remarks, Rath Virak, land management secretary of state, addressed the future of the project and confirmed that its implementation period would be extended.
“LASED III has been extended for 18 months. Under the original schedule, it would end in 2026, but it will now continue until the middle of 2028,” he said.
He also indicated that preparations would follow for LASED IV, stressing that the government’s land allocation initiatives remained important for communities.
“LASED I, LASED II, LASED III and LASED IV cannot be abandoned,” he said, adding that communities remained the central focus of the programmes.
Virak outlined government efforts to complete the country’s initial land registration process, while acknowledging that more complicated cases involving collective land and state land would require further attention.
He highlighted land-use planning as another government priority, including initiatives concerning the Angkor area and the Tonle Sap region.
The workshop is expected to contribute to a Cambodia action plan and a regional roadmap addressing women’s land rights, agricultural leadership, sustainable farming and climate resilience.
Participants emphasised that future policies should not only recognise women as agricultural producers but also strengthen their ability to own and manage land, access financial resources and participate directly in decisions affecting their livelihoods.