CAMBODIA – How a Young Cambodian Farmer Built a Thriving Chicken Business

Sory Channath, a 37-year-old young farmer from Tomnum Thmey Village, Chheap Commune, Toeuk Phos District, Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia, has built a career in hatching chicken eggs and supplying chicks to his community. He manages a 3-hectare farm, where he grows paddy rice on 2 hectares, raises poultry on 0.5 hectares, cultivates vegetables on 0.37 hectares, and uses the remaining land for fish farming. Among his various farming activities, he now focuses primarily on hen raising for egg incubation. These eggs are hatched and the chicks are supplied to villagers and cooperative members.

Channath’s journey began in 2018 with 30 native fattening chickens, using conventional techniques. However, he faced significant setbacks due to disease outbreaks in both 2018 and 2020. Despite these challenges, he remained determined and continued to pursue his poultry business.

In 2020, Channath faced another difficult situation when his wife was suspected of having breast cancer. To support his family during this uncertain time, he studied the Korean language in hopes of migrating to South Korea for work. After successfully passing the Korean language exam, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training awarded him a certificate on July 2023, qualifying him for employment in South Korea.

However, Channath ultimately decided not to pursue the overseas opportunity when his wife’s diagnosis was later confirmed not to be cancer. In addition, he also received strong encouragement from his relatives to expand his poultry business. He had long observed that villagers were forced to purchase low-quality chicks from outside the community due to a lack of local suppliers. Seeing this gap as an opportunity, he decided to fully commit to chicken farming in order to support his family without having to migrate abroad.

While studying Korean, Channath was invited to join a Training of Trainers program on chicken raising conducted by the Farmer and Nature Net Association (FNN), a member of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), in 2021. This significantly improved his knowledge and skills. Confidently restarting his poultry efforts, he began raising 30 roosters and hens, and continued to participate in various chicken-raising trainings to enhance his capacity.

As a result, Channath successfully transformed himself from a conventional farmer into a professional chicken farmer. Today, on his 0.5-hectare poultry plot, he raises 600 roosters and hens for egg production and artificial incubation. This allows him to supply around 1,000 healthy chicks per month to cooperative members and villagers. In addition, he delivers an average of 1,000 eggs monthly to four markets in Phnom Penh and nearby areas, and supplies about 500 fattening chickens per cycle (every 3-4 months) to local food stores and middlemen.

Through his hard work and dedication, Channath now earns a stable income to support his family and actively contributes to his cooperative and community’s development efforts.

Beyond production, Channath shares his knowledge with others. More than 100 farmers from different provinces have visited his farm to attend peer-to-peer trainings, learning practical and proven techniques directly from him.

Channath was one of the young farmer delegates who participated in the First Asia-Pacific Young Farmers Camp and Agrilympics held in August 2024 in Laguna, Philippines.

His story serves as an inspiration to other young farmers. Channath believes that young farmers should focus on the specific on-farm activities they are passionate about and gradually scale up. At the same time, they should continue to develop their skills, find solutions to challenges, and never give up without taking action.