This paper focuses on property rights and collective action in the Mekong region of Cambodia. Institutional arrangements in water management for community-based aquaculture in two villages in the Mekong area of Cambodia are described.Water management, ISEW, Cambodia,

Werthmann, C.

English

Research Papers in Economics

  1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Conference Paper 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Institutions in the Mekong Delta of Cambodia -
Findings from a situation analysis 
 
 
Christine Werthmann* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.    2
ABSTRACT 
 
This paper focuses on property rights and collective action in the Mekong region of 
Cambodia. Institutional arrangements in water management for community-based 
aquaculture in two villages in the Mekong area of Cambodia are described. 
 
The region is characterized through various forms of institutions. Various groups 
have access to the resources and use them in various ways at different times, which 
give the water resource system a multiple use character.  
 
This paper presents a situation analysis of water management in Cambodia and 
starts with a general introduction into the Cambodian history of land tenure and water 
management. Furthermore, institutions for water management in two villages, 
including rules and regulation as well as water distribution patterns will be described. 
 
Conclusions summarize the findings and show challenges for future interventions of 
the “CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food: Community-Based Fish Culture 
in Irrigation Systems and Seasonal Floodplains” in community based aquaculture in 
Cambodia. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
In 2005, the WorldFish Center initiated the "CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and 
Food: Community-Based Fish Culture in Irrigation Systems and Seasonal 
Floodplains" in three water basins, namely the Indus-Ganges (Bangladesh and 
India), Niger River basin (Mali) as well as the Mekong Delta (Cambodia and 
Vietnam). In Cambodia, the project is managed through the Inland Fisheries 
Research and Development Institute (IFReDI)/ Fisheries Administration (FiA). In this 
context, research on institutional arrangements and technical options for community-
based aquaculture is conducted in the Lower Mekong area of Cambodia. One 
expected output of the project is the identification of locally rooted institutional options 
for sharing benefits of integrating fish and other living aquatic resources (the 
WorldFish Center 2005).  
 
Cambodian history evidently strongly influenced land and water tenure issues and 
thus collective action. In order to understand people’s perceptions about water 
management and underlying conditions it is thus useful to consider the historical 
development of water and land management in Cambodia.  
 
After independence in 1953, a general degradation of land access for Cambodians 
followed the initial colonial effort to privatise the traditional collective domains. 
Traditionally, an individual or household took what was needed for subsistence 
without hurting the collective rights of the community (Van Acker 1999), while the 
land belonged to the sovereign. During the French protectorate (1863-1953) the 
Cambodian Civil Code of 1920 aimed at a general registration and a national 
cadastre system. Thus, in contradiction to the traditional system "Kram", all 
unoccupied areas are considered as "free" and became available for sale. 
With the launching of "Buddhist Socialism" in the mid-1960s a period of non-aligned 
state socialism and monopoly started. During this time, lowland Khmer were resettled 
and land was forcibly redistributed. Then, with the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979), 
all private property was abolished and all property records were systematically   3
destroyed. The entire population was marched out of cities and villages and reduced 
to slave labour in programs of public works and collective work-brigades (Van Acker 
1999).  
 
With the Vietnamese Invasion in early 1979, the system of the "Krom Samaki" 
continued with the collectivisation of property, albeit in a less forbidding format and 
allowing different levels of private property. In 1989, the government abolished 
collectivisation and reintroduced the private ownership (Van Acker 1999) and today, 
the decentralisation efforts of government aim at give power to lower level 
institutions.  
 
Today, people are still uncertain whether their claims on property are secure, 
because the conflict settlement is still an ongoing process and different sources of 
land law are in force. Additionally, the social base in Cambodia is still fragile and 
makes collective action a serious challenge. Institutional structure is still 
underdeveloped due to the extent era of military regime and corruption and power 
structures characterize the people's life instead of the legal system. National policy 
aims at registering land titles in the near future. However, until now only a few 
villages in the south-western part of Cambodia hold private land titles. 
 
SITUATION ANALYSIS IN TWO CAMBODIAN VILLAGES 
 
The project, CPWF PN35 is conducting research in four villages in Cambodia. Thnal 
Kaeng and Potamoun are located west of Phnom Penh in Prey Veng province. Pom 
Eith and Chrouy Poan are located in the south-western part of Cambodia in Takeo 
province, close to the Vietnamese border. This chapter will focus on institutions in 
Thnal Kaeng and Pom Eith village.  
 
Water management in Thnal Kaeng 
 
Thnal Kaeng village in Prey Veng is located next to Boeng Khei Reservoir. Thnal 
Kaeng consists of 98 households and was part of an earlier CARE Cambodia rural 
development project which supported the establishment of a Water User Group 
(WUG) as well as pond culture. 
 
The Boeng Khei reservoir in Thnal Kaeng was built during the Pol Pot Regime in 
1975. In 2006, CARE Cambodia offered a Food for Work Program for the renovation 
of the canals as well as for the road leading south to the national road. Within this 
program, there were two sluices built as well.  
 
The reservoir is an important water source for irrigation as well as for all other 
household activities (cooking, washing, drinking, bathing, soaking, etc.) in the village. 
The reservoir is 900 m wide and 2800 m long. Three sluices are connecting the 
reservoir with downstream canals. Two upstream canals allow water flow in for 
further storage. All land south of the reservoir is fed by the two canals heading south. 
Since 2006, two newly built sluices regulate the water flow for Thnal Kaeng and thus 
also influence water levels in the downstream Potamoun reservoir.  
   4
 
Fig. 1. Boeng Khei reservoir, Thnal Kaeng village 
 
The reservoir is accessed by nine different villages from Pean Reang and Svay 
Chrum communes for irrigation purposes. However, about six different communes 
and more than 700 households have access to the reservoir and use it as a fishing 
ground. Thnal Kaeng village can be considered as the main user, while the village 
builds a strip settlement along the reservoir.  
 
In Thnal Kaeng no cadastral survey was undertaken until now and people have no 
secure property rights for their land holdings. Legally, all agricultural land in the 
reservoir is state property and belongs to the Cambodian government and only 
paddy fields outside the dyke are privately owned (without land titles). People have 
held use rights on agricultural land in the reservoir for a long time already, but are 
aware of the fact that the government can claim the land back. As the reservoir 
usually holds water for the whole year, it is recognised as a public good, where 
everybody can have access during the whole year. In fact, it is an open access 
situation as rules and regulations concerning the resource use are not legally 
enforced. 
 
In Cambodia the government established Water User Committees (WUC) on a 
commune level, which are responsible for water management issues in their 
communes. The villages in the commune are represented in the WUC through two to 
four village members, which were selected by the villagers. The WUC in Svay Chrum 
commune thus represents approximately 770 HH. In Thnal Kaeng the village head as 
well as another villager are the representatives in the commune-wide WUC, which 
has only operated since 2006. The WUC is lead by the commune head. On a village 
level the village head leads the Water User Group on the village level (WUG) 
established by CARE Cambodia. There are six Kroms
1 in Thnal Kaeng, with each 
Krom leader being represented in the WUG.  
                                                 
1 A Krom is an administrative entity underneath the village level. All villages in Cambodia are further divided 
into several Kroms with each having his own Krom leader   5
 
Water is used according to needs. Villagers must request that the sluice is opened 
(or closed) to the WUC, the WUC will inform the village chief of Thnal Kaeng village 
and he will then operate the sluices according to the order of the WUC. This 
procedure is the same for all villagers further downstream as well. When the 
southern Potamoun reservoir is not having enough water for irrigation, the villagers 
will ask that the Thnal Kaeng village chief is informed, who will then open the sluice 
and let water flow into the downstream reservoir. This is usually requested twice a 
week. 
 
There are rules and regulations concerning the use of the water resource according 
to national policy. Thus, there are restrictions on the type of fishing gear, whereby 
electrical fishing gears as well as fine mesh nets are not allowed to be used. 
Furthermore, there is a restriction on the size of gill nets, seine nets and arrow 
shaped trap nets. There are no rules concerning the amount of fish that can be taken 
out as well as no time or fishing area restrictions.  
 
People are informed about new rules through the Commune Fisheries Office and the 
police. There are no written rules and regulations, but there are village meetings, 
where the advantages of rules and the penalties are explained to the villagers. 
During these meetings the use of legal fishing gears is also explained. These 
meetings are once or twice a month.  
 
The Commune Fishery Office and the police are responsible for monitoring, exposing 
and fining the use of illegal fishing gears. Thus, the village head does not have the 
legal right to fine the offenders, but he reports his observations to the commune head 
and the police. Because of the size of the water resource, offenders are seldom 
caught.  
 
Water management in Pom Eith 
 
Pom Eith today consists of 133 households. In 1973, the villagers were forced, by the 
Khmer Rouge, to move away from the village and they had to live next to the 
mountains nearby. In 1975, the villagers moved back to the village. The village has 
access to Tunloub reservoir, which is southern-west part of a larger system of a total 
four reservoirs north of the village. All together there are five communes using the 
water from the reservoir, and there are nine villages alone in Prey Ampok commune.  
 
On the eastern side the reservoir is bordering the national road No.2; built in 1976-
1978 heading from Phnom Penh southwards to Vietnam. The road thus separates 
the paddy fields lying west of the road from the direct use of the reservoir, but 
farmers owning these fields are connected to the reservoir through a sluice. There 
are five sluices and one culvert, which were renovated in 2004.  
 
The reservoir is used for rice cropping as well as for fishing and other household 
activities like bathing, draining animals, drinking water, washing, etc. It is fed through 
rain water as well as through the Mekong River which starts swelling soon after the 
rainy season started. All agricultural land lies in the reservoir. On average people in 
Pom Eith have five different plots.  
   6
After the Pol Pot regime, when land was collectivized, the village experienced 
another expropriation in 1983/84, where land became public property again. In 1989, 
government then abolished collectivization and redistributed land to private owners. 
In 2006, a cadastral service was undertaken in Pom Eith, thus it is one of the first 
villages that were able to officially register their private land titles.  
 
 
Fig.2. Tunloub reservoir Pom Eith, village 
 
However, the water resource faces an open access situation during wet season, 
which starts in June. Everybody, including non-community members is allowed to 
use the reservoir for their own purposes and come for fishing. There is no restriction 
on the amount of fish caught; however the use of illegal fishing gears such as electric 
fishing gears or fine mesh nets is prohibited. The Kiri Vong District police officer is in 
theory responsible for monitoring of and imposing fines on people using illegal fishing 
gears. However in practice, the monitoring of illegal fishing in this area stopped in 
1996.  
 
Similar to Thnal Kaeng, there are also meetings in Pom Eith organised by the 
commune head and the fisheries officer in order to introduce new rules and 
regulations to the villagers. Villagers are not involved in any decision making about 
rules and regulations, they are only informed by the fisheries officer.  
 
There is a Water User Committee (WUC) in the Prey Ampok commune as well as a 
Water Resource Office (WRO) on district level. It is the WRO who decides about the 
management of the sluices. When villagers want sluices to be opened or closed they 
have to ask the WUC, which then will ask for permission from the WRO to open and 
close it. 
 
In the reservoir there is no regular monitoring of water quality, fish abundance or the 
use of illegal fishing gears. The village head himself has no legal authority, but is 
supposed to report to the commune head, when he observes someone breaking the 
rules. Only the fishery officer and the police are allowed to sanction and are   7
supposed to coordinate their activities. However, villagers report that the use of 
illegal fishing gears can be regularly observed. 
 
CONCLUSIONS 
 
Cambodia has a wide variety of water rights systems and a wide variety of water 
allocation systems in local areas. Property rights change according to the season 
and land is considered to be private land during dry season and public land/open 
access during wet season. The two reservoirs do not possess clearly defined 
boundaries.  
 
Although the Cambodian government established Water User Committees, not all 
water users of the water resource are represented in the same institution. Thus, inter-
commune coordination becomes a serious challenge, although the water resources 
in Cambodia are most often shared between communes. In Thnal Kaeng, two 
communes share the same reservoir, but they are not represented in the same 
committee and there are not meetings in order to coordinate water management 
between the two communes. Similarly, not all downstream user villages are 
represented in the committee. They are again represented in another WUC and there 
are no meetings held for super-coordination between these committees.  
 
There are no formal or informal institutions concerning the coordination of fishing 
activities and the access to fishing grounds on a local level. Although, there are 
restrictions on the type of fishing gears, the amount of fish and time spent fishing is 
not restricted. Furthermore, there are no rules protecting breeding areas. The 
existing rules and regulations are not written down and the information of villagers 
about new rules seems to be very informal and spreads through mouth-to-mouth 
propaganda. Villagers in Pom Eith reported that they feel confused about and even 
threatened through the penalties they are informed about. 
 
The monitoring, exposing and fining of the use of illegal fishing gears through the 
Commune Fishery Office and the police must be considered as ineffective as 
villagers report regular illegal fishing practices. Usually, people are aware of the 
number and people who use illegal fishing gear, but face difficulties to convict the 
offenders due to a lack of presence of responsible staff as well as due to a fear of 
revenge. 
 
The CPWF PN35 faces several challenges in future project implementation. An in-
depth analysis of local level institutions in fishing and water management is 
necessary in order to better understand the different local water user schemes. 
Broad based analyses will be necessary to understand by whom and how the 
resources in rural areas are used and more applied research is advisable to better 
understand the complex livelihood strategies of the poor and the key role of land 
(Kirk 2004). 
 
Collective action can be considered as a new model for Cambodia fish culture and 
thus small-scale approaches might be appropriate in order to avoid more complex 
coordination problems within the groups. During the Khmer Rouge regime, 
Cambodians were forced to work collectively, but never appropriate a benefit from 
this collective work. Thus, “real incentives” for investments in a common good and 
collective action must be created.    8
 
However, most important will be the facilitation of community-based aquaculture on a 
local level as well as a long-term support through several institutions. Rules and 
regulations as well as monitoring/sanctions systems must be established by the 
resource users. Furthermore, conflict resolution mechanisms will be necessary and 
must be developed over time. Adaptive learning should be the main component in 
project implementation as experiences in collective action are low at a local level in 
Cambodia and the possibility to learn and develop community-based action should 
be encouraged and facilitated on a long-term basis. 
 
It will also be essential to create linkages to other (higher level) institutions, 
embedding local institutions in a framework of governance, in order to ensure high 
level support for a sustainable collective management of local water resources in 
Cambodia. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
Kirk, M. (2004): State Land Economics in Cambodia, Policy Discussion Paper,   
Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Land Management 
and Administration Project, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany, 2. revised 
version, Phnom Penh, Marburg, July, 2004 
 
Van Acker, F. (1999): Hitting a stone with an egg? Cambodia's rural economy and 
land tenure in transition, Centre for ASEAN Studies Discussion paper No. 23 Centre 
for International Management and Development Antwerp. University of Antwerp, 
Belgium 
 
WorldFish Center (2005): Community Based Fish Culture in Irrigation Systems and 
Seasonal Floodplains, project proposal, submitted to CGIAR Challenge Program on 
Water and Food (CPWF PN 35) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

State Land Economics in Cambodia, Policy Discussion Paper, Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Land Management and Administration Project,

Institutions in the Mekong Delta of Cambodia: findings from a situation analysis

http://www.worldfishcenter.org/resource_centre/WF_927.pdf

Institutions in the Mekong Delta of Cambodia: findings from a situation analysis

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