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IDRC Photo:  Kaneez Hasna

Sou Thom grows food in baskets in the hanging garden at her home on the ‘great lake’ of Tonle Sap in Rolous, a floating district of Siem Reap, Cambodia.  It’s a high density, peri-urban area where food security is a growing concern due to lack of land.  Since she lost her husband during the Khmer Rouge regime, Sou Thom has struggled to feed her large family.  Recently she found an innovative way to feed her family and generate income: she created a small vegetable and herb garden on wooden planks by using small and medium sized rattan baskets. 

 

She prepares the baskets for growing by using clay and organic compost.  She grows spinach, eggplants, tomatoes, chillies, coriander, basil, and mint.  She uses half of the produce for family consumption and transports the rest by motorbike to the market where it is sold. “The plants are like my children,” she says with a smile. “I enjoy seeing them growing bigger and taller each day.” 

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