Attachments
CONTEXT
- Cambodia is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, including flooding, droughts, and typhoons. Climate change has worsened the negative impacts of these hazards, particularly flooding, due to Cambodia’s low-lying river deltas, seasonal rainfall, and location in the Mekong River flood plains.
- Nearly 80 percent of Cambodians reside in rural areas particularly susceptible to climate change and natural hazards. Moreover, approximately 65 percent of the population relies on agriculture, fisheries, and forestry for their livelihoods. Droughts, floods, rising sea levels, and other natural hazards can destroy agricultural lands and livestock, exacerbating rural populations’ vulnerability to the effects of future shocks.
- Cambodia’s poverty rate has declined in recent years; however,
malnutrition rates remain high, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Approximately 22 percent of children younger than five years of age exhibit stunting, indicating low height-for-age related to insufficient nutrition, the UN World Food Program (WFP) reports. As of June 2024, an estimated 16 percent of children were underweight and an additional 10 percent suffered from wasting, a form of malnutrition with a high risk of mortality and morbidity, according to WFP. Limited access to health services and inadequate public infrastructure further increase vulnerability to food insecurity and undernutrition across Cambodia, particularly among poor households.