About the project

What is the Nurture Project?

The Nurture Project is a climate resilience initiative supporting smallholder farming households and their communities in Cambodia. Its overall goal is to make them more resilient to climate change and to increase their incomes through climate-resilient agro-ecosystems. See About Us.

Where does the project work?

In four provinces in northwest Cambodia: Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. See About Us.

Who runs the project, and who funds it?

It is implemented by HEKS/EPER and Caritas Switzerland together with local organizations, and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). See About Us.

How large is the project, and how long does it run?

It works with 15,000 smallholder farming households and rural communities, and has a total budget of $9,000,000 in project funding. Phase 1 runs from December 2022 to December 2026, and Phase 2 from January 2027 to December 2030. See About Us.

What is the project trying to achieve?

Three outcomes: increased yield and reduced climate risks through improved access to water for irrigation; enhanced accountability, planning and policies on climate change; and widespread adoption of agroecological practices together with income diversification. See About Us.

Approach and partners

Why does the project focus on water and irrigation?

Cambodia has wide access to water, but only about 2% of total surface water is utilised. Around 2,300 irrigation schemes irrigate 1.2 million hectares — 22% of arable land — and many of them are not, or only partly, operational. Over the last 20 years, production losses came mainly from flooding (62%) and drought (36%). See About Us.

What kinds of practices does the project promote?

Agroecological practices that raise yields and reduce climate risk, alongside income diversification. The organizations the project works with cover areas including conservation agriculture, sustainable crop protection, integrated pest management, mechanised planting, solar-powered irrigation and seed value chains. See Project Interventions.

Which organizations does the project work with?

Seventeen partner organizations, among them government bodies (the General Directorate of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, NCDD and NCDM), NGOs and programmes (People in Need, GIZ, HALO-Trust, STAR Kampuchea, East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer, CASIC) and private-sector partners (SmartAgro, KS Seed, UNIFI, EGE Cambodia Energy Solutions, Impact Hub Phnom Penh, Khmer Enterprise). The full list with descriptions is on Project Interventions.

Can my organization work with the project?

Yes — write to info@nurtureproject.org or use the contact form on Get Involved. The project welcomes researchers, community organizers, policymakers and potential partners.

Results and documents

What results has the project achieved?

The published case studies document results such as solar irrigation reducing water-pumping costs by 40% and raising rice yields from 3.5 to 5.5 tons per hectare for 160 farming households in Battambang; machine-planting reaching 4.4 tons per hectare; and a farm expanding from 5 to 8 hectares after switching to solar-powered irrigation. The collection is on Stories.

Where can I download reports and case studies?

The Achievements page offers twelve downloadable documents: five case studies, five stories of change, an impact sheet on collaboration with the private sector, and the KAF Ventures brief presentations.

What is the difference between the case studies and the stories of change?

Both are short published documents. Case studies describe an approach in a province — solar pumping services, mechanised planting, seed value chains, market linkages or irrigation governance. Stories of change follow a single farmer or household, such as Salet, Saran, Ravuth and Saroeun. See Achievements.

Research and theses

What research has the project supported?

Four works are published so far, all listed on Thesis: a policy thesis from NADEL on the potential and limitations of Weather-Water-Climate Services for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in northwestern Cambodia (Dennis Pisoni, January 2026); a Bachelor’s thesis on the adoption of climate-resilient practices among rice farmers in Battambang (Johanna Bischof, HAFL, December 2025); a Bachelor’s thesis on whether biopesticides and integrated pest management can control fall armyworm among smallholders in Battambang (Noah Rauser, HAFL, December 2024); and a master’s thesis abstract on precipitation, yields and irrigation water demand in dry-season paddy rice cultivation in the Prast Pram irrigation system (Jennifer Danneck, University of Basel, October 2025).

Can I use or cite these works?

They are published so that the knowledge can be shared. All content on this site is protected by copyright, so please write to info@nurtureproject.org if you wish to reuse a document or are unsure how to credit it. See Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Can students carry out research with the project?

The published theses were written by students of HAFL, the University of Basel and NADEL, either directly supported by the project or carried out within the framework of its activities and partnerships. For a new research enquiry, write to info@nurtureproject.org. See Project Interventions.

Videos and photos

Where can I watch project videos?

The Video page plays two YouTube playlists — the Khmer Agriculture for the Future Accelerator 2024 and the Khmer Agriculture for the Future Incubator — with eight films each. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you press play.

Where can I see photos from the project?

In the photo gallery at gallery.nurtureproject.org, which is also linked from the main menu.

Contact and offices

How do I contact the project?

Email info@nurtureproject.org, or use the contact form on Get Involved. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00–17:00.

Where are your offices?

The head office is on Concrete Drain Rd, Krong Siem Reap 171202. There are provincial offices in Sisophon (Banteay Meanchey), Krong Battambang (Battambang), Samraong (Oddar Meanchey) and Preah Vihear. Full addresses and map links are on Get Involved.

Your data and this website

Does this website use cookies or track me?

No. The site sets no cookies and does not track visitors. The only cookies that can be placed on your device come from YouTube, and only if you click to load a video. Website statistics are aggregated, with IP addresses shortened before they are stored. See Privacy Policy.

What happens to the information I send through the contact form?

The form is handled by Formspree, a form-processing service in the United States, which transmits your name, email address and message to us. Those details are transferred outside Cambodia and Switzerland, and kept only as long as needed to deal with your enquiry. See Privacy Policy.

How do I ask what data you hold about me?

Write to info@nurtureproject.org. You can ask for a copy of your data, have it corrected or deleted, object to or restrict its processing, or receive it in a portable format. If you believe your data has been handled improperly, you can complain to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). See Privacy Policy.

Still not answered? Write to info@nurtureproject.org or use the form on Get Involved.