Background
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) serves as the executing agency for both the ASPIRE-AT programme and the CREA climate-resilience project, coordinating implementation across national and provincial offices and with international partners.
IFAD, the European Union and the European Investment Bank provide technical and financial support to MAFF-led programmes through project financing agreements and supervision missions. Both ASPIRE-AT and CREA are designed to strengthen agricultural value chains by targeting productivity, product quality, processing and market linkages for domestic and export markets. Project supervision missions review agreed actions, assess implementation progress, and set follow-up activities for the implementation year.
Key Developments
On 24 August 2026, MAFF Secretary of State Dr. Meas Piseth chaired the kick-off meeting for the supervision mission of ASPIRE-AT and the CREA project. The mission is led by Frew Behabtu, IFAD Country Director, and Bryan Fornari, Head of Cooperation at the European Union delegation.
The meeting brought together national programme leadership, officials from the General Directorate of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, provincial MAFF offices, the EU, ARDB, the Cambodia Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGCC), the ASPIRE-AT Secretariat, CREA project staff, and service providers from regions 1, 2 and 3. A total of 92 participants attended, including 14 women. The supervision mission will run for 12 days and will focus on reviewing results of previously agreed actions and defining activities for continued implementation in 2026.
Institutional Role
MAFF leads implementation of ASPIRE-AT and CREA while leveraging technical assistance and financial resources provided or brokered by international partners, including IFAD, EU, EIB, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and South–South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC). Participating domestic institutions mentioned at the meeting include the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) and the Cambodia Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGCC), which collaborate on finance and guarantee instruments linked to agricultural enterprises.
Operational Implications
The supervision mission is explicitly tasked with informing and adjusting operational activities to support farmers, agricultural communities and agribusinesses in enhancing productivity, quality, processing and sales for local and international markets. Agenda items included briefing on mission objectives, reviewing progress on agreed actions from previous missions, and agreeing the set of activities to be implemented through 2026.
