Utilization of food
Local Diet
The two key staple foods in Cambodia are rice and fish: rice supplies about 75 per cent of total caloric intake, while fish (from inland water courses and paddy fields, as well as some marine supplies) provides the main source of protein.These are supplemented by maize, root crops (cassava and sweet potatoes), mung beans and groundnuts. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables are produced in Cambodia, though the consumption of vegetables by the rural population appears limited since surplus supplies are often sold rather than consumed. Sugar-palms and sugar-cane are also grown, as are coconuts, pepper, cashew nuts, coffee and oil palms.
Cattle and buffalo are mainly raised for their draught power or as capital savings, although some beef is consumed. Pigs, particularly, are raised for meat, and are an increasingly important source of protein. Chickens and ducks are raised to supply eggs as well as meat. In some parts of the country (particularly forested areas), hunting and trapping of animals are additional sources of food, despite attempted restrictions on hunting. The distribution of landmines in a number of forested areas has limited this activity. Forests, fields and water courses in Cambodia supply a plethora of plants, berries, wild fruits, tubers and mushrooms, as well as aquatic animals (frogs, crabs, snails and shrimp). These have formed an integral part of the diet of many rural Cambodians. Poorer households in particular, with little alternative food production capacity, turn to such sources not only for additional food for themselves, but also for sale to obtain income.
There are a number of ways in which rice is processed (e.g., noodles, rice cakes), as well as fish (e.g., prahoc, dried and smoked fish, fish sauces and pastes). Traditional local processing techniques are oftrn used. Fish processing provides many with a continuous source of protein throughout the year. Some pickling of fruit and vegetables occurs, but fruit and vegetable processing is little developed. There is almost no food canning, and very limited frozen food production in the country. There is no oilseed industry. A number of processed foods are imported, even into rural areas. Some bread is consumed in urban areas. Almost all dairy products are imported or reconstituted in the country.
The mix of food products available in Cambodia should normally be adequate for a balanced diet, but productive capacity or purchasing power of many households is limited, and in these circumstances the diet becomes more restricted to rice and fish.
Intra-Household Food Distribution [1]
In a number of countries it has been found that for various psychological, social and cultural reasons, different members of a household receive a disproportionate amount of food in relation to their needs. In a number of cultures women and girls receive less food than men and boys in relation to their needs. Sometimes this is due to nutritional ignorance, but often it relates to power relations within the household and long-established cultural norms. No particular study of this phenomenon appears to have been undertaken in Cambodia.
Children who are ill often receive less food. Even in the period of recovery from a particular illness many children are often only fed rice soup in small proportions at a time when they most need balanced food for adequate recovery. Rice soup would not provide all the nutrients they need. The synergy between illness and malnutrition, and the need to enhance food security via the provision of non-food inputs, particularly health care, sanitation, water supplies and education, has recently gained greater prominence, and is being increasingly recognized in Cambodia.
In periods of food shortage the communal pot usually receives reduced portions, or rice soup is consumed instead of rice, but a systematic redistribution of food to particular household members is generally not undertaken. Nevertheless, it has been observed that women and older people may often sacrifice some of their food for the men or older children on the assumption that their needs are greater, and that having slightly more food will enable the latter to work better.
Children will often try to supplement their food supply by scavenging in these circumstances. It has also been observed that people will often sell other higher-value food crops in order to purchase more rice. The propensity to seek rice for feeding suggests un-satiated hunger, which rice satisfies for a short time better than some other foods. The nutritional value of some fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat does not always appear to be recognized, and accordingly, some of these products enter less into consumption patterns than would be recommended, particularly at certain times of the year.
