Food:
While the average energy consumption per capita in the United States is 3,700 kilocalories, the average in Cambodia is 2,180 kilocalories.
Malnutrition is extremely common in Cambodia. Women and young children are especially effected by the lack of food/lack of means to obtain food. Many Cambodian citizens develop iron deficiencies, vitamin A and iodine deficiencies and anemia. Due to the lack of nutrients, the growth of many Cambodian children is often stunted.
Extreme poverty is definitely an underlying cause of the nationwide malnutrition. Thankfully, due to the newly growing economy, the poverty rate has begun to decrease in Cambodia. This will hopefully help to stop the malnutrition.
Despite the malnutrition and lack of access to food, there is still a distinct Cambodian cuisine.
Khmer or Cambodia dishes often consist of fish due to the proximity of the Mekong Delta. Rice is also commonly served just due to its abundance in the area. The national dish is the Amok.
A dish unique to Cambodia is the fried spider which is commonly found in rural Cambodian villages.
Agriculture:
22.6% of the land in Cambodia is arable.
The Cambodian food production has peaked in the last few years and now farming is definitely a viable career. Much of the country has land viable for farming.
“The success of Cambodian agriculture helped four million people out of poverty. The poverty headcount dropped from 50% in 2007 to 18% in 2012.” – Worldbank.org
Due to the heavy amount of rainwater Cambodia gets during monsoon season, the country has great areas available for farming rice. However, citizens commonly farm fruits and vegetables as well.
Soil:
The most common form of land degradation in Cambodia is soil degradation. Much of the soil degradation in Cambodia is caused by inadequate farming techniques and the lack of education on ways to preserve the soil.
Farmers are planting the same crops year after year and using improper plowing techniques which is contributing to the soil degradation.
The government and farmers were more focused on increasing crop yield than helping the maintain the soil quality which has caused some intense soil degradation to occur in just the past decade.
Many Cambodians use manure as fertilizer because the soil is extremely low in nutrients.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_energy_intake
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/nutrition/khm_en.stm
http://www.cambodia-hotels.com/food.htm
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/cambodia/arable-land-percent-of-land-area-wb-data.html
http://www.cdri.org.kh/webdata/policybrief/drf/AgriandLand_ResourcesE.pdf
Cambodia: 