The widespread practice of in-field rice straw burning after harvest stems from significant challenges including labor shortages, straw's low economic value, and insufficient knowledge about sustainable management alternatives. This environmentally harmful practice causes biodiversity loss, depletes soil nutrients, and creates health hazards, making it a priority concern for both governments of Cambodia and Viet Nam. Despite this recognition, burning persists due to poor integration of straw in rice value chains, lack of appropriate technologies, and various issues in crop management, market systems, and stakeholder preferences.Our solution proposes developing a rice straw-based circular economy (RiceEco) that increases rice income while reducing carbon footprints through multiple integrated approaches. The project will implement sustainable rice contract farming alongside innovative straw utilization methods—creating bio-fertilizers, bio-plastics, and supporting urban agriculture—all enhanced by ICT-based logistics tools. These interventions, guided by proven business models and targeted behavior change strategies, will ultimately upgrade agrifood value chains, enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, and improve farmer incomes. The framework developed through this cross-country knowledge exchange will provide a scalable model for Southeast and South Asian regions while contributing substantially to MKCF priority sectors, particularly Agriculture and Rural Development and Environment. Read more...
