IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Research article
erd

Effects of Eri-Culture on Promoting Environmental
Awareness in Greater Phnom Penh of Cambodia
KUMIKO KAWABE*
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: sunshinekumiko@gmail.com

MAKARA TAL
Cambodia Branch, Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 11 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Currently in Greater Phnom Penh of Cambodia, the majority of famers apply
agricultural chemicals such as chemical fertilizers or pesticide to maintain high levels ofcrop yield. However, agricultural chemicals released from farmlands are causing severe
problems, such as the health damage of famers or the degradation of soil and water
environment. So, an attention has been paid to approach sustainable rural development asregional challenges in the Education for Sustainable Development, ESD. This research
dealt with the evaluation of the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental
awareness of local farmers, especially regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide
applied. As eri silkworm is sensitive to agricultural chemicals, research interests have been
focused on how eri-culture affects the environmental awareness of local farmers who reareri silkworm. Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit south Asia, has been
introduced to local villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of
the activities of Regional Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. The workshops havebeen organized 2 times for local farmers including the demonstration of eri-culture in
November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conducted to each
local farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months from introducing ericulture in Kampong Cham province, the questionnaire survey was conducted in March2011 to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local
farmers. The results showed that rearing farmers wanted to reduce 92.5% of chemical
pesticide compared to the conventional way. While local farmers who just participated or
who have never participated in the workshops showed only 72.3% or 66.9% of chemical
pesticide to be reduced. So, there was a tendency the expected percentage of chemical
pesticide to be reduced for rearing farmers was remarkably higher than that for local
farmers who just participated in the workshop or who have never participated in theworkshops. Accordingly, it was considered that eri-culture has educational function for
local farmers regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide application. However, othertrainings such as sustainable farming practices may be indispensable to reduce theamounts of chemical pesticide applied with minimizing the insect damage to agricultural
products.
Keywords: eri-culture, sustainable rural development, ESD, environmental awareness

INTRODUCTION
Greater Phnom Penh is composed of Phnom Penh city and six surrounding provinces of Kampong
Cham, Kandal, Prey Veng, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhang and Takeo provinces. The total
population of those areas is 7,250,881 and the area of Greater Phnom Penh is 34,641 km2 (Source:Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

General Population Census of Cambodia 2008). More than 70 % of population is engaged inagriculture and related sectors.
Population increases rapidly in Cambodia, which causes many problems in environment,
quality of life, education and human health. Education is always the key to develop humanresources that is necessary for the country’s development. However, there are many obstacles thatmake things difficult in Cambodia, for examples, lacking teachers, lacking school facilities, low
income of the people and lacking of educational awareness. According to the statistics 2010/2011of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Cambodia (MoEYS), while the net enrollment ratio forprimary school in Kampong Cham province is 96.8 %, the ratio for lower secondary school is
28.3% and for higher secondary school only 14.4%. As a whole, the situation in rural area is muchworse than that in urban area. After the enrollment to school, the statistic shows that the severe
situation for children to continue their study. The percentage of dropout in primary school (grade16) is 10.1%, in lower secondary level (grade7-9) is 22.4% and in upper secondary level (grade1012) is 13% (Education Indicators, 2010/2011) in Kampong Cham province, and the situation isquite same in other areas of Cambodia.
Also the majority of farmers apply agricultural chemicals, such as chemical fertilizers or
pesticides to achieve and maintain high levels of yield. However, the overuse of agriculturalchemicals caused the degradation of water regime that is released from farmlands to downstream.
Therefore, the education for sustainable development (ESD) is necessary to approach sustainable
rural development.
Regional Centres of Expertise (RCE) is a network for existing formal and non-formalorganizations to deliver ESD to local communities in respective countries. RCE Greater Phnom
Penh (RCE-GPP) has been established to promote ESD through the food, agriculture andenvironment education for sustainable development in the area of Greater Phnom Penh and wasofficially acknowledged by the Global RCE Centre of the United Nations University, Institute ofAdvanced Studies (UNU-IAS) on December 26, 2009. RCE-GPP aims to enhance the food,agriculture and environment education not only for primary schools but also for local communities
through organic farming activities under the cooperation of government, universities, local NGOs
and local communities in Greater Phnom Penh.
So, in above activities, cultivating eri silkworms called “eri-culture” has been introduced to
local villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of RCEGPP, which is aiming to promote the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental
awareness, especially the environmental awareness in terms of the reduction of chemical pesticide
application in local villages in Kampong Cham province, which is located in Greater Phnom Penh,
Cambodia. Due to the characteristic of eri silkworm, the usage of chemical pesticide should beconcerned. Through the introduction and implementation of eri-culture in local villages, it was
discussed how eri-culture affect to the local people for changing and improving their environmental
awareness.
METHODOLOGY
Eri-culture
Eri silkworm, Samia Cynthia ricini, is one kind of wild silkworms that inhabit south Asia (Photos.
1-3), and it is said that its origin is Assam province, India. Now not only in India, eri-culture has
been conducted in various countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Ethiopia andCambodia. Wild silkworms inhabit all over the world with more than 500 varieties, and each hasvery different unique characters.
Not only eri silkworm but also other kinds of wild silkworms have a very unique characteristicⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

with cocoon, so called ‘nano-tube structure’ (Akai and Nagashima, 2001, 2002). This nano-tube
structure makes eri silkworm very unique with high functionalities as material, such as highultraviolet protection and high moisture absorbency.
Specializing about eri silkworm, it has very high potential to be used as hybrid yarn with othermaterials, such as silk, cotton and others. As the fiber of eri silkworm is very soft like wool orcashmere, an attention has been paid on cocoon of eri silkworm by private sectors around the world.

Photo. 1 Eri silkworm

Photo. 2 Castor leaves as host plant

Photo. 3 Eri cocoon

Eri silkworm is multivoltine and it hatches around 6 times per year (Kawabe, 2010). One
lifecycle is about 45 to 50 days. One female moth produces more than 200 eggs per time. Host
plants of eri silkworm are leaves of castor (Ricinus communis), cassava (Manihot esculenta),
papaya and a few kinds of leaves which can be found in rural areas of south Asia, and actuallyconsidered as “just leaves” with no utilization. Without any input or special care, those leaves aregrown naturally, especially near rivers or damping sites. So, farmers can easily start eri-culture
without any change of their land use. While using the natural resources in villages, farmers findthemselves to acknowledge their farming practice gradually change to sustainable agricultural way.
Eri-culture is one of the possibilities to promote sustainable agriculture, due to the sensitivity of erisilkworm to any kind of chemical substances so that farmers started to realize the harm of chemical
pesticides, smoke of cigarette, smoke of burning plastics and so on. To conduct eri-culture, farmers
need to quit using chemical substances or at least reducing the amount of usage. That is a reason
why eri-culture could be one of educational materials for sustainable rural development and also asolution to reduce chemical pesticide, which has been causing severe illness to farmers and strain
their living.
However, to promote sustainable agriculture on ESD, it is necessary to provide something as
incentive for local farmers, as their poverty level is quite high and they are eager to do anotherwork for income generation except farming, especially during the dry season, farmers go to urban
areas to look for a job for living. So, not only providing workshops or seminars regarding
sustainable rural development but also providing opportunity for income generation is the essential
factor to motivate farmers and it leads to promoting sustainable rural development in their daily life
and initiative could be taken by local farmers.
Research sites
The research sites to conduct eri-culture are located at Wat Chas village and Roung Kor village in
Baray commune, Prey Chhor district in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia (Fig. 1). Since
October 2010, eri-culture has been introduced and promoted in Wat Chas village and a little after inRoung Kor village.
In Wat Chas and Roung Kor villages, main economic activity of farmers is rice cultivation,and some amounts of vegetables in upland fields are also cultivated. There are some serious
problems related to the agricultural situation. Average area of farmland is around 0.45 ha in Wat
Chas village and Roung Kor village, which is below the average of other areas of Kampong Champrovince, thus the amount of agro-production is very limited in the small land and poverty level ishigher than other province of Cambodia (Table 1). To yield the large amount of crops, it is common
to apply chemical fertilizer and chemical pesticides into farmlands, although it causes severeⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

degradation of soil and water environment in farmlands and serious health problems for farmers(Mihara and Fujimoto, 2007).
Kingdom of Cambodia

Roung Kor village Wat Chas village
Fig. 1 Location of Wat Chas and Roung Kor villages in Baray commune,
Prey Chhor district in Kampong Cham province
Table 1 Agricultural land per rural household in Kampong Cham
Agricultural land per rural household (a)No agricultural land (landless)0.01 ha ≦a <1.0 ha
1.0 ha ≦ a < 3.0 ha
a ≧ 3.0 ha

Cambodia
15%
49%
30%
6%

Kampong
Cham
17%
55%
23%
5%

Wat Chas

Roung Kor

7%
80%
13%
0%

3%
82%
15%
0%

Source: MAFF 2004

For the first trial, two farmers haveselected and started conducting eri-culture in
October 2010, and then four more farmers in
Wat Chas village and two farmers in Roung
Kor have started to conduct eri-culture since
January 2011. Its activity has been expandedin those villages, and the number of farmers
who have already started conducting ericulture is increasing in each village (Photo. 4).
Workshops and questionnaire survey

Photo. 4 Rearers in Wat Chas village

Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit in south Asia, has been introduced to local
villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of Regional
Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. As shown in Photo. 5, the workshops have beenorganized 3 times for local farmers including the demonstration of eri-culture in October,
November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conducted to each local
farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months passed from introducing eri-culture in
Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, the questionnaire survey was conducted in March 2011 toevaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local farmers. The
questionnaire includes the following questions:Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1-

Whether you have already initiated eri-culture.
Whether you have ever participated in the workshop on eri-culture.
How much you want to reduce chemical pesticide compared to conventional way.
How much you enhanced communication compared to before starting eri-culture.
How much you expect that eri-culture contributes to income generation per year.

Photo. 5 Eri-culture demonstrations in workshop held at
Wat Chas in November, 2010
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Local acceptability of eri-culture
The first workshop conducted in October 2010 was a very small one where only two farmers haveparticipated in. By showing and touching eri-silkworms in effect, farmers understood the process ofrearing and active discussion was made naturally.
The second workshop conducted in November 2010 was much bigger than the first one,because more farmers were motivated by the first trial farmers and many came to see their rearing
way. Since one farmer for the first trail succeeded, she was acknowledged as “Good Practice” inthe village. Although another farmer failed to rear, due to smoke of cigarette and feeding wrong
plant such as Jatropha, the farmer took this as an opportunity to understand how chemical
substances affected eri silkworm that led to fatal event.
Totally, 45 farmers participated in the second workshop and among the participants, other four
farmers started eri-culture. Most of them failed to rear for their first time and many worms havedied because of the chemical pesticide that was contaminated in the rearing net. New rearers tried
to figure out the reason of their sudden death. Naturally, communication among farmers became
more active than before to exchange and share knowledge and experiences on eri-culture, and it
seemed their awareness to chemical substances has improved. They asked whether perfume isacceptable to worms or not, because young women wear perfume a lot in daily life in Cambodia.
Farmers implement ESD (education for sustainable development) by themselves without
being ordered to do so. Moreover, many other farmers from other villages in Kampong Champrovince showed their strong interest to start eri-culture since they consider it as a high potential
work which can be conducted easily in their villages. After second and third workshops,
communication level became high in the network formed naturally and the information andknowledge were spread. Even no support by providing necessary materials, there were many
farmers who wanted to start eri-culture.
Table 2 shows the typology of participation. According to attitude of local participants or way
to be related or involved in the project, the degree of participation can be evaluated. Based on Table
2, the change in participation level from October 2010 to March 2011 for 6 months was discussed.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

When the first workshop was conducted in October 2010, only two farmers participated in it. It wasa unilateral announcement without any listening to local responses. So, it could be evaluated as
Level 1, passive participation, at the initial stage in October 2010. However, through the second
and third workshops including demonstration on eri-culture, many farmers were motivated. Also,
they showed their strong and positive passion to start eri-culture. Based on attitude of local
participants and way to be related to eri-culture, it could be evaluated as Level 6, interactive
participation, as local people participated in eri-culture with forming local network to enhance ericulture with systemic learning processes based on the local communication.
Table 2 A typology of participation
Typology

Characteristics of Each Type
People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened. It is a
1. Passive
unilateral announcement by an administration or project management without any
participation listening to people's responses. The information being shared belongs only to external
professionals.
People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researches using
2. Participation
in information questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to
influence proceedings, as the findings of the research are neither shared nor checked forgivingaccuracy.
People participate by being consulted, and external agents listen to views. These external
3. Participation agents define both problems and solutions and may modify these in the light of people's
by consultation responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share in decision making,and professionals are under no obligation to take on board people's views.
People participate by providing resources, for example labor, in return for food, cash, or
4. Participation other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls in this category, as farmers provide
for material
the fields but are not involved in the experimentation or the process of learning. It is very
incentive
common to see this called participation, yet people have no stake in prolonging activities
when the incentives end.
People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives related to theproject, which can involve the development or promotion of externally initiated social
5. Functionalorganization. Such involvement does not tend to be at early stages of project cycles orparticipation
planning, but rather after major decisions have been made. These instructions tend to be
dependent on external initiators and facilitators, but may become self-dependent.
People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formation of new
local institutions or the strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involve interdisciplinary
6. Interactive
methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of systemic and structured
participation
learning processes. These groups take control over local decisions, and so people have a
stake in maintaining structures or practices.
People participate by taking initiative independent of external institution to changesystems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources and technical
7. Selfadvice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Such self-initiatedmobilization
mobilization and collective action may or may not challenge existing inequitable
distribution of wealth and power.
Source: Pretty (1994), adapted from Adnan et al. (1992)

Evaluation on the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness
The workshops have been organized 3 times for local farmers including the demonstration of ericulture in October, November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conductedto each local farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months passed from introducing
eri-culture in Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, the questionnaire survey was conducted in
March 2011 to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local
farmers.
The results of the questionnaire survey showed that local farmers who rear eri silkworms
wanted to reduce 92.5% of chemical pesticide compared to the conventional way (Fig. 2). While
local farmers who just participated in the workshop or who have never participated in theworkshops showed only 72.3% or 66.9% of chemical pesticide to be reduced. So, the expected
percentage of chemical pesticide to be reduced for local farmers who rear eri silkworms wasⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

significantly higher than that for local farmers who just participated in the workshop or who havenever participated in the workshops.
Accordingly, it was considered that eri-culture has educational function for local farmers
regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide application. However, other trainings such assustainable farming practices may be indispensable to reduce the amounts of chemical pesticide
applied with minimizing the insect damage to agricultural products.
100

A*,**

Amount of chemical pesticide
to be reduced (%)

80

B*
B**

60

40

20

0
Conducting eri-culture

Only attending workshops

No idea about eri-culture

n=8, farmers who
conduct eri-culture

n=14, farmers who
n=23, farmers who
participated in thehave never participatedlast workshops
in the workshop
Different letter indicates the significant difference at 99%(**) or 95%(*).

Fig. 2 Difference in expected percentage of chemical pesticide to be reduced
between rearers and others
Evaluation on the effects of eri-culture on rural development
Through the second and the third workshops in November and December 2010, including
demonstration on eri-culture, many farmers were motivated. Also, they showed their strong andpositive passion to start eri-culture and participated in eri-culture with forming local network toenhance eri-culture with systemic learning processes based on local communication.
Corresponding to forming local network to enhance eri-culture, they deepened communicationcompared to before starting eri-culture.
0%
12.5%

7%
12.5%

13%
1. 0 - 20%

1. 0 – 20 US$

2. 20 - 40%

2. 20 – 40 US$

3. 40 - 60%

11%

4. 60 - 80%
37.5%

37.5%

4. 60 – 80 US$

62%

5. 80 - 100%7%n=8, only farmers who conduct eri-culture

3. 40 – 60 US$
5. Above 80 US$

n=45, all responded farmers

Fig. 4 Expected income generation througheri-culture per year

Fig. 3 Increase of communication comparing
to before starting eri-culture

As shown in Fg. 3, 38% of rearers acknowledged that the communication increased 40 to 60%
compared to that before starting eri-culture, and other 38% of rearers responded increasing up to 60
to 80%, while only 13% acknowledged 20-40%. Accordingly, it was evaluated that thecommunication in the network has been increased through eri-culture. In addition, Fig. 4 shows theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

expectation of income generation through eri-culture. Over 62% of rearers expect more than 80
US$ of income increase per year. It means local famers expected that their income would increase
through eri-culture in the village.
CONCLUSION
Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit in south Asia, has been introduced to local
villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of Regional
Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. Because of the characteristics of eri silkworm, ericulture was considered that it has an educational function for local farmers regarding the reductionof chemical pesticide application. This paper dealt with the effects of eri-culture on promoting
environmental awareness of local farmers, in terms of the reduction of chemical pesticide
application. After 6 months passed from the introduction of eri-culture, the questionnaire survey
was conducted for evaluating local awareness on the reduction of chemical pesticide application. In
the results, the farmers who rear eri silkworms waned to reduce 92.5% of chemical pesticidecompared to the conventional way. On the other hand, farmers who only participated in theworkshops or who never participated in the workshops wanted to reduce only 72.3% or 66.9%. The
results of the survey clearly showed that the environmental awareness of the local farmers whoreared eri silkworm was significantly higher than that of rest farmers. Accordingly, it wasconsidered that eri-culture could be one of solutions for reduction of chemical input in agriculturalland that leads to conservation of natural resources and farmlands, but also poverty reduction tocreate job opportunity in the village. However, other trainings such as sustainable farming practices
may be indispensable to reduce the amounts of chemical pesticide applied with minimizing theinsect damage to agricultural products.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, ERECON, has been supported thepromotion of eri-culture in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia. Also, Prof. Dr. Takayuki
Nagashima, Mr. Osamu Shimizu, and Prof. Dr. Keishiro Itagaki have been advising technical andsocial aspects on eri-culture. Authors would like to express special thanks to them.
REFERENCES
Akai, H. and Nagashima, T. 2001. Structural characteristics of cocoon filament from Rothschildia silkmoth,International Journal Wild Silkmoth & Silk, 6, 25-32.
Akai, H. and Nagashima, T. 2002. Structural characteristics of cocoon filament of the African silkmoth,
Argema mimosae. International Journal Wild Silkmoth & Silk, 7, 47-52.
Kawabe, K. 2010. Eri-culture for sustainable rural development. ERECON Annual Report, Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation, 2009-2010, 4. Japan.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2009. Sustainable farming practices for environmental conservation. Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan.
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Cambodia (MoEYS), http://www.moeys.gov.kh.
UNU-IAS SATOYAMA Initiative, http://satoyama-initiative.org/jp/case-studies/asia/agriculture/kampongcham-cambodia.
World Food Programme, http://foodsecurityatlas.org/khm/country/provincial-Profile/Kampong-Cham.

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