Soybean growers from Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota visit a Cambodian fish farm where the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council is supporting WISHH’s collaboration with WorldFish on aquaculture feeding demonstrations using soy-based feeds.

ASA/WISHH’s delegation of U.S. soybean growers recently headed to Cambodia and Myanmar, where they saw first-hand WISHH’s initiatives to build demand for U.S. soy through aquaculture feed, as well as human food.

The group participated in the launch of WISHH’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded Commercialization of Aquaculture for Sustainable Trade (CAST) – Cambodia project. In addition, they toured Cambodia’s Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Nutrition (CE SAIN) at the Royal University of Agriculture, a fish hatchery, animal feed store and more.

Cambodia’s GDP has increased by more than 7 percent per year since 2011, growing the demand for animal and aquaculture-sourced protein. CAST’s anticipated local economic impact exceeds $300 million over the life of the project, and Cambodia’s aquaculture industry demand for soybean protein is projected to reach 100,000 metric tons per year by 2030.

While in Southeast Asia, the soybean growers also visited enterprises in Myanmar where WISHH is leading USDA-funded activities to grow the soy food market, and where USSEC is active in the animal feed and aquaculture sectors.

WISHH Program Committee Members traveling to Southeast Asia include: Chairman Daryl Cates (Ill), Craig Converse (SD), Scott Gaffner (Ill.), and Dawn Scheier (SD). Also joining were North Dakota Soybean Council Director Daniel Mock, and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council Board Members Kyle Durham, Tim Gottman, Bob Littleton, and Director of Business Development Tony Stafford. WISHH Executive Director Liz Hare, Asia Division Director Alan Poock, and CAST Chief of Party Jim Hershey staffed the trip.