Integrated Farmer Field School: Visit to a Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) site. Young people learn how to control crop pests through the use of biological methods rather than pesticides. - - Special Programme for Food Security: SPFS/CMB/6701. The series of wars in and around Cambodia over the past 30 years ruined its agricultural sector and left a large deficit in the country s productive labour force. The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), launched in 1997 in four provinces in Cambodia, has introduced new technologies that have been welcomed by the farmers. The Programme places strong emphasis on training, and all activities are implemented through the Integrated Farmer Field Schools (IFFS), where technicians and extension officers work alongside farmers in a two-way learning process.

The combined effect of better water management, use of certified seeds and appropriate fertilizer practices substantially increased rice yields. High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of rice and new vegetable seeds, made significant changes to the country s cropping systems. Better husbandry methods, including vaccination of poultry and treatment of pigs with antibiotics have helped to decrease incidence of disease and mortality rates.