Rural Infrastructure Programme VIII

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The Rural Infrastructure Programme VIII project is part of the Rural Infrastructure Development for Cambodia (RID4CAM) programme. RID4CAM is being implemented by the Cambodian Ministry for Rural Development and aims to improve the living conditions of the rural population in the project regions and strengthen their climate resilience. The focus of the project is on improving year-round access to markets, schools, health centres and public administration. The increasing impacts of storms and heavy rainfall in recent years are being addressed by paying particular attention to adaptation to climate change. As a follow-up project to the Rural Infrastructure Programme (RIP), RID4CAM is making a further contribution to economic and social development and poverty reduction among the rural population. KfW, with the help of the BMZ, is providing a low-interest loan of EUR 30 million, and the French Agence française de développement (AFD) is contributing a loan of EUR 50 million as part of the Mutual Reliance Initiative (MRI). In addition, the German side is providing EUR 7.1 million in grant funds from the BMZ and the EU is providing a further EUR 8.8 million in grant funds from the EU-Asian Investment Fund (AIF). The majority of the RID4CAM investments will go towards the climate-resilient expansion of rural roads, with loan financing being used primarily for strategically important bituminized roads (approx. 550 km) and the German grant funds for additional laterite or gravel roads. The strategic routes are selected in coordination with the Water Resources Management and Agro-ecological Transition for Cambodia (WAT4CAM) project financed by the AFD. The roads in the vicinity of WAT4CAM irrigation systems financed by the new program give rural producers year-round, time- and cost-effective access to production resources and sales markets. Overall, the two projects, in conjunction with other development projects in the region (e.g. GIZ and IFAD projects), form an integrated approach to the development of larger agricultural areas. The EU contribution will finance multi-sectoral municipal infrastructure (e.g. small water supply systems, small access roads to fields, storage and drying rooms) for the communities located on the project roads as well as accompanying capacity building for the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure in the project communities and the executing agency. RID4CAM is being implemented in the five provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap, Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom and Kandal.