DFM Cambodia exploratory workshop

Terms of reference

• Organize and coordinate an exploratory workshop on dried fish in Cambodia
• Prepare proceedings of the workshop and share with participants

Status

PUBLISHED

Workflow

• 2020-06-15: Report submitted by Gayathri.
• 2020-08-19: Comments by Derek. DFM_RPT_KHM-scoping-workshop_DRAFT_Comments-DJ_2020-08-19.docx
• 2020-10-19: Report copy-edited by Eric and released. DFM_RPT_KHM-scoping-workshop_2020-03.pdf

Summary

Pontification by Derek Johnson. DFM Cambodia Scoping Workshop, March 03, 2020.

Map of Cambodia

The role of processed fish in Cambodia as an important livelihood option, especially for the poorer segments of the population and women, for food security and nutrition and as a cultural preference through analysis focusing on consumption and production is clearly identified in published literature. However, this body of work is fragmented, as they lack a specific focus on the processed fish sector. There are no studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of all the types of processed fish products, the species used, volume of production by type by region, and the proportion or number of households that engage in processing for Cambodia. On the other hand, the body of work with a specific focus on fish processing in Cambodia is marked by a focus on technical analysis including the chemical composition of processed fish and by the methods followed in processing fish paste and fermented fish.  However, a range of studies that analyze the fisheries sector in general, have included a focus on the processed fish sector, and they broadly fall within the disciplines of socio-economic, socio-cultural, ecological and environmental, nutrition, food security and food safety, and policy and governance.

What does "dried fish" look like in Cambodia?

Some element of drying occurs in the production of all the fish- based products in Cambodia, except for fish sauce, Fermented products such as Pa Ork and Mum/Mam (Fermented fresh water fish) and Yahe (fermented prawns).

The length of drying varies by type of product: the most ‘dried’ is salted and dried fish (Trey Ngeat, Trey Broma) and to a relatively lesser extent, sun dried fish (Trey Brolak). Smoked fish processing includes a short period of drying, after being skewered and before smoking. Fish paste (Prahoc) and shrimp paste (Kappik) processing also involves a short period of sun drying.

The point in time/processing that the drying occurs varies by product. For most products it is right after cleaning, adding salt, such as for salted and dried fish. For some other products such as dried shrimp, the drying takes place after the shrimp is boiled, mixed with salt.

Drying is done almost in all the instances using natural sunlight, except by certain processors of shrimp drying, in the coastal regions such as Koh Kong, who use solar- powered ovens for drying during the rainy season.

The shelf-life of the different products varies by type of product, the quality of the processing followed, including the length of time the products are dried or fermented and type of ingredients that are used. For example, salted sun- dried fish is ‘completely dried’, i.e. dried in strong sunlight for 1-3 days can be kept for up to three months without refrigeration. If MSG is mixed with dried shrimp, along with salt, the shelf life becomes relatively shorter, compared to dried prawns that had not been mixed with MSG.

Of the processed products in Cambodia, Prahoc (fish paste) is the product with the longest shelf-life, which can last up to three years, depending on the quality of the fish, the salt used and the steps followed. Trey Brolak (whole sun-dried fish), is the product with the shortest shelf-life, as the drying period is relatively shorter.

Metadata

abstract

A Stakeholder Workshop was held in March 2020 to share and validate the initial findings of a scoping study conducted by DFM Cambodia from October 2019 to March 2020. Coordinated by Cambodian Institute for Research and Rural Development (CIRD) in collaboration with Centre for Poverty Analysis of Sri Lanka (CEPA), the DFM Cambodia research project aimed to understand the dried/processed fish economy, with attention to historical, social, cultural, economic and policy variability, in the initial scoping phase of the study. The project has a particular aim on tracing the value chain forward and backward starting with fish processing, moving on to trading within the country and outside the country-exports and imports. Feedback, comments, and inputs from participants of the workshop have been collected and analyzed in order to identify gaps.

date

2020-10-29

creator

Gayathri Lokuge