IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2010) 1–1

Research article
erdMarket Channel and Trade of Fermented Small-Sized Fish
Paste in Cambodia
SOPHEA UN
Graduate School, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: sophea2004@yahoo.com

ROBERT S. POMEROY
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics/CT Sea Grant,
University of Connecticut-Avery Point, Connecticut, USA

NAM SO
Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute,Fisheries Administration, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

KONGKEA CHHAY
Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development,
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Received 31 December 2009

Accepted 5 March 2010

Abstract Fermented small-sized fish paste is considered to be one of the main food sources
for Cambodians, especially for the poor. However, most small-sized fish are used as direct
feed for aquaculture or dried for animal feed. This study was conducted in order to identify
market channel and trade of fermented small-sized fish paste. Phnom Penh city, Kendal,
Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, and Siem Reap Provinces were selected as the study
areas. The study revealed that there were three main sources of product which should beconsidered when analyzing total volume of annual production. The total production of thefermented fish paste in 2007-2008 was around 6,659 tons, of which 50.18% wasdomestically consumed and 49.82% exported to Thailand and Vietnam. Marketing andtrading differed according to trading sites, stakeholder characteristics, and fish species
containing in the fermented fish paste.
Keywords: Market channel, trade, small-sized fish, fermented small-sized fish paste,
Cambodia

INTRODUCTION
Fish has played an important role in ensuring food security in Cambodia. Fermented fish paste (orPrahoc in Khmer), a processed fish product, is a concentrated form of fermented fish which istypically made from small freshwater fish in which the fermentation has digested the fish to thepoint where the form of the fish is no longer clearly visible (Hortle, 2007). Fermented fish paste isdesirable and is kept in houses all year round. It contributes to food availability, especially in theperiod when fresh fish is in short supply. There are two kinds of fermented fish paste - bonelessand bony fish paste - which are bought and used by different classes of people. Some boneless fish
paste is processed from small-sized fish species, but it is sold at a higher price compared to that ofbony fish paste. Normally bony fish paste, also processed from small-sized fish, is consumed by thepoor who have limited income.
Nearly all small-sized fish - around 92% - are used as direct feed for cage and pondaquaculture (So et al., 2005). These competing uses are a challenge to human consumption,
especially to the poor. Based on the rapid decrease of small-sized fish numbers in the river, theRoyal Government of Cambodia placed a ban on snakehead fish farming. As a result more fish is© ISERD145

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2010) 1–1

available and an opportunity exists for the poor, and for small-sized fish paste stakeholders, toaccess more fish for their living and businesses. In addition around 50% of small-sized fish isprocessed into small-sized dried fish and salted fish or converted into small-sized fish paste or fishsauce (Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2006).
Information about fermented small-sized fish paste market and trade in Cambodia has notpreviously been investigated and understood. This study was conducted to identify the market
channel and trade of fermented small-sized fish paste in Cambodia.
METHODOLOGY
Phnom Penh City and Kandal Province, in the Mekong-Bassac River zone, and Kampong Chhnang,
Battambang and Siem Reap Provinces, in the Great Lake and Tonle Sap River zone, were selected
as study areas. Samples for interviews were categorized into six groups, processors, middlemen,exporters, wholesalers, retailers, and end consumers, based on their characteristics in the trade andmarkets. The total sample size in the study was 150. Two kinds of data, primary and secondary,were required for the study. Primary data comprised information from interviews. Structuralinterviews using six different design questionnaires were conducted with survey respondents who
were purposively selected. Key informants, such as officers at Fisheries Administration
Cantonment and local authorities in each city/province, were also semi-structurally interviewed,and observations conducted. Secondary data were taken from technical papers, books, journals, andother publications. The collected primary data were installed and analyzed in SPSS version 12.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
There are three main actors in the fermented fish paste market channel:
Processors: Among the five study areas Kampong Chhnang has the largest amount offermented small-sized fish paste processing. Fermented small-sized fish paste production rose from1124 tons in 2000-2001 to 1,448 tons in 2007-2008, but declines occurred in the years 2002-2003
and 2005-2007 because of shortages and an increasing price of small-sized fish.
Exporting Companies: There were three exporting companies - Trey Meas and Marchhar
Steoung Sangkae, located in Battambang Province and Marchhar Meas Angkor, based in Siem
Reap Province. The total amount of salted small-sized fish bought, processed, and traded by thesethree exporting companies in 2001-2002 was 800 tons and rose to 4,139 tons in 2007-2008.
Wholesalers and Retailers: It was estimated that the total amount of fermented small-sized fish
paste which went through wholesalers and retailers, and did not go through processors or exporters,
was 1,071 tons in 2007-2008.
Thus, the total amount of the fermented fish paste produced in 2007-2008 was about 6,659
tons. Of this 3,341 tons (50.18%) was domestically consumed, 3,268 tons (49.07%) was exported toThailand, and 50 tons (0.75%) was exported to Vietnam.
In 2000, the total amount of fermented fish paste produced by family-scale processors was
between 17,500 and 25,000 tons. Commercial-scale processors produced 12,681 tons (Touch,2001), of which 7,187 tons (56.68%) were domestically consumed and 5,494 tons (43.32%) wereexported (Department of Fisheries, 2001). However, (Nao et al., 2001) state that the actual amountof fish paste exported was much higher.
About 58.82% of salted small-sized fish which was bought by middlemen came fromfishermen; 92.75% bought by exporters came from middlemen; 73.50% bought by wholesalers wasfrom middlemen; 43.13% bought by retailers was from processors. When sold, 63.83% was soldfrom processors to middlemen; 65.14% from middlemen to exporters; 88.74% from exporters tomiddlemen; 33.97% from wholesalers to provincial wholesalers/retailers. The fermented fish paste
was mostly not classified when traded in markets.
This study also showed that the average price of fresh fish was 1,497 Riel/kg in 2007-2008(processors) and of (final) fermented small-sized fish paste was 3,141 Riel/kg in 2000-2001, 3,594
Riel/kg in 2001-2002, 3,783 Riel/kg in 2002-2003, 4,014 Riel/kg in 2003-2004, 4,541 Riel/kg in© ISERD146

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2004-2005, 5,026 Riel/kg in 2005-2006, 5,707 Riel/kg in 2006-2007, and 6,789 Riel/kg in 20072008, compared to the study of Touch in 2001 which showed that the price of bony fish paste perkilogram in 2000 was about 1,500 Riel and 5,000 Riel for boneless fish paste. Note that theexchange rate used is 4,000 Riel to 1 US Dollar.
Market channels of fermented small-sized fish paste differed in the five study areas. In Phnom
Penh, the total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste which was marketed and distributed toother provinces was about 421 tons (6.34% of total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste(6,659 tons) being annually traded in Cambodia). In Fig. 1, processors in Phnom Penh played an
important role to supply (final or finished) fermented small-sized fish paste to stakeholders inmarkets; they sold the product to provincial middlemen and markets, and to Phnom Penh
middlemen and markets. Moreover, processors in Kandal Province also sold their (final) fermented
small-sized fish paste to some markets and to middlemen in Phnom Penh. And middlemen in
Phnom Penh also bought fermented small-sized fish paste in semi-final form (or called salted
small-sized fish) from processors in Kampong Chhnang Province and from exporting companies inBattambang Province. After being processed and stocked in cement reservoirs or earthenware pots
this fermented fish paste was sold to either Phnom Penh and provincial markets or consumers.

Processors inPhnom Penh
Middlemen in
Provinces
Phnom Penh
Markets
Provincial
Markets

Exporting Companiesin Battambang
Province

Middlemen in
Phnom Penh

Processors in
Kandal Province

Processors in Kampong
Chhnang Province

Consumers

Fig. 1 Market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in Phnom Penh City
In Kandal Province, the total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste which was either
marketed within the province or distributed to other provinces was 445 tons (6.70% of the total
amount being traded in Cambodia every year). As shown in Fig. 2, processors supplied fermented
small-sized fish paste to middlemen in the province and to other provinces, to Phnom Penh andprovincial markets, to middlemen in Phnom Penh, and to consumers. Middlemen both inside andoutside the province sold the product to Phnom Penh market which it was then distributed fromPhnom Penh markets to some markets in other provinces. Furthermore, middlemen in Kandal andother provinces, and those in Phnom Penh sold their products to markets in Kandal Province and toother provinces as well.

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Processors in Kandal Province

Middlemen in Provinces

Phnom Penh Markets

Provincial Markets

Middlemen in Phnom PenhConsumers

Fig. 2 Market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in Kandal Province
The total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste which was being either marketed inBattambang or distributed to other provinces and to Thailand was 3,730 tons (56% of the total
amount being traded annually in Cambodia). In Fig. 3, second processors in Battambang bought
salted small-sized fish from first middlemen living near the Tonle Sap river. After being processed(through adding more salt or making into final products), the fermented fish paste was sold towholesalers/retailers in markets, to middlemen both inside and outside the province and to Phnom
Penh middlemen. Moreover, first processors in Battambang sold salted small-sized fish directly tosome markets in Battambang and in other provinces. First middlemen in Battambang also supplied
the salted fish to sellers in markets of Battambang and other provinces and exporting companies inBattambang. These companies bought salted small-sized fish from first middlemen in Kampong
Chhnang. After being salted and stocked, it was sold out to second processors in Battambang, toprovincial markets, to provincial middlemen, to Phnom Penh middlemen, and to Thai markets.

1st Middlemen inBattambang Province

2nd Processors inBattambang

1st Processors inBattambangProvincial Markets

Middlemen in Provinces

Exporting Companies inBattambang Province

Middlemen in Phnom Penh
1st Middlemen inKampong Chhnang
Province

Thai Markets

Fig. 3 Market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in Battambang Province© ISERD148

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The total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste which was being marketed in Kampong
Chhnang and distributed to other provinces was 960 tons (14.43% of the total amount being tradedin Cambodia). In Kampong Chhnang the product which was sold by processors was salted smallsized fish, called fermented small-sized fish paste by local people in the province. As shown in Fig.
4, the salted fish was sold from processors to Phnom Penh markets, to provincial markets, tosecond middlemen in the provinces, to middemen in Phnom Penh, and to other middlemen fromother provinces. Some of the salted fish was taken to Vietnam by Vietnamese processors when theprocessing season was finished. Moreover, some of the salted fish was also exported to Thaimarkets by the processors. Additionally, first middlemen from other provinces also sold salted
small-sized fish to second middlemen in the province and to some wholesalers and retailers either
in the province or in other provinces. After being stocked (or sometimes not), the fermented fish
paste was distributed to provincial markets, to middlemen in other provinces as well as in Phnom
Penh city.
Processors in Kampong
Chhnang Province
Phnom Penh Markets

Provincial Markets
2nd Middlemen in
Kampong Chhnang

1st Middlemen in otherProvinces

Middlemen in otherProvinces
Middlemen in PhnomPenh

Vietnam and ThailandFig. 4 Market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in Kampong Chhnang Province
The total amount of fermented small-sized fish paste which was being marketed in Siem Reap,
distributed to other Provinces and to Thailand was 1,100 tons (16.53% of the total amount being
traded in Cambodia). Unlike the other four Provinces in Siem Reap both bony and boneless smallsized fish paste were marketed. Fig. 5 shows that processors sold fermented fish paste as finishedproducts to markets and middlemen in the province, and to markets in Phnom Penh. Middlemen in
the province also sold the fermented fish paste to markets in the province. In addition first
middlemen in Pursat and Battambang Provinces brought salted fish from fishermen and sold toexporting companies in Siem Reap. After being salted and stocked (or sometimes not), the salted
fish was exported to Thai markets. Furthermore, an exporting company in Siem Reap and first
middlemen and first processors in Battambang sold salted fish and final fermented fish paste(mostly from exporting company) to wholesalers and retailers in some markets in Siem Reap
Province. This would later be processed into finished products before sale to consumers.

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Generally the market channels for fermented fish paste are affected by seasons, which
determine the availability of fish for fermented small-sized fish paste processing. Seasonal factors
influence the presence of the product in markets from month to month and business outcomes.
Overall, fermented small-sized fish paste is locally marketed and traded in both finished andunfinished form depending on the business purposes of stakeholders. The product was ultimately
sold to domestic consumers as finished products or exported to neighboring countries as unfinishedproduct which could later be processed into finished products to meet export market needs.
The market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in the five study areas differed interms of condition (finished or unfinished) and type (bony or boneless) of fermented small-sizedfish paste being marketed, and means of transport (car, cart or boat).

Processors in Siem
Reap Province

1st Processors in
Battambang

Provincial Markets

1st Middlemen in
Battambang

Middlemen inProvinces

Exporting Company inSiem Reap

Phnom PenhMarkets

Thai Markets

1st Middlemen in
PursatFig. 5 Market channel of fermented small-sized fish paste in Siem Reap Province
CONCLUSION
Fermented small-sized fish paste was traded differently according to trading sites, stakeholder
characteristics, and fish species. Moreover the fermented fish paste market and trade wascomplicated because not only was finished fermented small-sized fish paste marketed and tradedbut also salted small-sized fish. Although there seemed to be complications in the market channeland trade, the fermented fish paste was sufficiently processed for domestic needs and nearly half ofthe total production was exported to neighboring countries. Most of the product which wasexported to neighboring countries was in semi-final form which could reduce some of the addedvalue. Hence, more value adding could be obtained if the product could be processed locally into
finished products to meet the demands of consumers in other countries.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank the Fisheries Administration of Cambodia, US Agency for International Development,
Oregon State University, and Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Program(AquaFish CRSP) for their support for the study.

REFERENCES
Asian Development Bank (2006) Cambodia, Tonle Sap resource management and conservation(http://www.adb.org).
Department of Fisheries (2001) Trade, marketing and processing of fisheries product review. Department ofFisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia.

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Hortle, K.G. (2007) Consumption and the yield of fish and other aquatic animals from the lower Mekongbasin. Mekong River Commission Technical Paper, 16, 1-87.
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Touch, S.T. (2001) The inland and marine fisheries trade of Cambodia. Economic, Social and Cultural
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