By Charlie Townsend

ASA/WISHH CAST-Cambodia team member David Samveasna feeds soy-based feeds to fish at his family’s hatchery. Soy feeds allow farmers to boost the growth of their fish as a replacement for Cambodia’s traditional home-made feeds that commonly use small fish and other unsustainable ingredients. 

David Samveasna applied to work for WISHH due to his concern over Cambodia’s declining populations of wild-caught fish. Twenty-three years old at the time, David also saw the job as an opportunity to gain expertise critical to helping fish-farming families similar to his own. 

For centuries, Cambodians have counted on fish for protein. Cambodians are among the greatest consumers of freshwater fish in the world, with annual per capita fish consumption estimated at 52.4kg. More than 80% of the total animal protein in the Cambodian diet comes from fish and other aquatic animals, primarily from inland bodies of water like the Tonle Sap. Cambodia’s growing population and changes to the lake’s seasonal rise and fall are contributing to a decline in the fish catch.

Now 28, David recently attained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Royal University of Agriculture in Phnom Penh. He also plays a key role as an aquaculture specialist in two major provinces where WISHH implements its USDA Food for Progress Commercialization of Aquaculture for Sustainable Trade-Cambodia project. David’s job includes meeting and advising fish farmers, offering practical solutions to their individual needs.  

ASA Director and WISHH Vice Chair Morey Hill, an Iowa soybean grower, sees youth in agriculture as key to global food security and trade. “We need this younger generation to feed the world now, and in the future,” says Hill, who appreciated the opportunity to meet David during a series of trips in which U.S. soy farmers traveled to Cambodia. “WISHH is helping build young leaders who will be key to improving protein consumption around the world.” 

David depends on academic and real-world knowledge, including insights gained by working alongside the global aquaculture experts who advise the CAST project. His DVM degree has given David great understanding of the root causes of fish disease—knowledge he uses to help farmers prevent diseases that, if present, can quickly devastate both the fish in ponds and farmers’ profits.  

David has contributed to the introduction of high-quality, soy-based aquaculture feeds in Cambodia. When used as a replacement for traditional homemade feeds, soy feeds allow farmers to boost the growth of their fish; traditional homemade feeds commonly use small fish and other unsustainable ingredients as opposed to soy.  

The Cambodian Aquaculturist Association that CAST helped launch is important to the future, according to David. “The association is a very powerful force to push this industry,” he says. “Farmers in Cambodia are mostly small, and they repeat the same processes they have used the past 10 years. The association is vital in encouraging them to work together and share information and new technology.” 

WISHH is also leveraging USB soy checkoff funding to develop career pathways for youth in aquaculture in Cambodia. CAST created aquaculture training opportunities for students at the Royal University of Agriculture. A local Cambodian organization recognized their real-world knowledge and hired three students to offer USB-supported technical assistance to fish farmers, including those who adopt in-pond raceway systems, which WISHH developed using Missouri soy checkoff funding. As a result, the youth are contributing to the success of Cambodian fish farmers, who are using these new systems to make their operations more efficient and climate resilient. When faced with Cambodia’s extreme wet and dry seasons, farmers can easily move the unique systems to different ponds as needed.  

From left: WISHH Chair/ASA Director Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare, WISHH Treasurer Bob Haselwood and poultry farmer Mathew Bonso discuss the moisture meter WISHH introduced to Bonso. The meter reduces feed waste that cuts into poultry farmers’ profits, and also curbs release of methane, a greenhouse gas.  

WISHH’s Climate Work Cuts Food and Feed Losses 

Ghanaian poultry farmer Mathew Bonso (See our Soy Faces feature on page 22) continues to use the GrainMate moisture meter that WISHH introduced to him in 2019. He recognizes the value of quality soy protein in the diets of his Harimat Farms flock, which lays 8 million eggs per year. Another WISHH strategic partner, Isaac Sesi, developed the GrainMate meter, which measures the moisture content of seven different commodities, including soybeans, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, groundnut and wheat.  

Bonso and the other entrepreneurs that partner with WISHH face climate challenges, including feed and food waste that releases methane at the same time it cuts their profits. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, around 14% of the world's food (valued at $400 billion per year) continues to be lost after it is harvested. At the same time, food loss and waste account for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

ASA Director and WISHH Chair Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare says, “WISHH’s work with Harimat Farms is an example of how WISHH helps businesses expand and grow and further benefit others in their country by providing more protein in their diets.”  

WISHH also has introduced farmers and feed industry representatives to improved feed storage practices and hermetic bags that allow them to protect feed from rodents and other pests. In multiple countries, WISHH has offered lean management training so food and feed companies can pinpoint equipment or practices that contribute to product losses.

WISHH’s technical training for African aquaculture partners offers new insights into how to reduce fish losses both throughout their production cycle and during and after harvest.