We are a local not-for-profit working to improve food security, incomes and living standards of poor rural communities in support of environmental conservation in Cambodia. We believe in a Cambodia free from poverty and environmental degradation. Download the CRDT Profile 2011.
Belonging to the first educated generation after the Khmer Rouge, the founders of the Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) were disadvantaged rural kids. Access to education was an uphill struggle (Why don’t you meet the team for a few examples of how uphill that struggle was). Hard work and extraordinary circumstances saw our founders meeting at university, and being in the minority in coming from underprivileged backgrounds, they banded together as a team. They developed a shared vision for the future of Cambodia – one free from environmental degradation and poverty.
In Cambodia few rural people survive entirely on what they produce from their own land. They supplement their livelihoods by hunting, fishing or gathering forest products. But overfishing and deforestation are threatening both this way of living and ecosystems. The Mekong River Dolphin and many other critically endangered species are on the verge of extinction due to destructive natural resource usage.
Our founding members come from rural backgrounds, so it’s no stretch to learn that they care about rural communities. They experienced poverty first hand in their youth, and saw how closely linked poverty is to natural resources. If livelihoods are tied to environmental issues, a population exploding after years of atrocity means more people sharing Cambodia’s natural bounty. This free-for-all of natural resource exploitation will not last.
- We’re independent, non political and not for profit.
- We’re committed to working in partnership.
- We value our team members, supporting and empowering them through collective decision-making.
- We respect the rights and dignity of Cambodia’s impoverished rural people by living and working within beneficiary communities.
- We value Cambodia’s natural environment and the importance of protecting it for present and future generations.
- We are committed to transparency and aid effectiveness.
- We believe in a Cambodia free from poverty and environmental degradation.