PHNOM PENH, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved a 93 million U.S. dollars credit for the Cambodia Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project III (LASED III), said its press statement on Saturday.
The project will help improve land tenure security and access to infrastructure and agricultural and social services for landless and poor smallholders and indigenous communities in Cambodia, the statement said.
"Access to land, better agriculture practices and extension services to improve productivity as well as access to better public services are crucial for the rural poor," said Inguna Dobraja, World Bank country manager for Cambodia.
"LASED III will help the government to continue providing land and land titles to landless and land-poor families and to ensure land tenure security for indigenous communities in the project targeted areas," she added.
The project will cover 71 sites and communities in all provinces in Cambodia except capital Phnom Penh, the statement said.
It said the project will support building rural roads, small-scale irrigation systems, water supply and sanitation facilities, school buildings, teachers' houses, health posts and community centers.
The project will also provide technical assistance to implement climate-smart agriculture techniques, establish farmers' organizations for production and marketing activities, and manage community funds to scale up local economic activities, it added.
Through the World Bank's LASED and LASED II projects begun since 2008, Cambodia has allocated 17,000 hectares of residential and agriculture farmland to more than 5,000 landless and land-poor families, and 3,360 families have already received land titles, the statement said. Enditem
