Now available: Report on Year 3 of the DiFF Project

We are pleased to launch the DiFF Project Report for Year 3 of our 5-year project. In our third year, we collected a large amount of both qualitative and quantitative data, completing the household survey in Cambodia, as well as two rounds of interviews and focus groups in rural Laos and Cambodia. We also began a survey of traders in Cambodia.

While the data is still being analysed, we have identified some early insights into the ways farmers in Laos and Cambodia use financial services for both farming and non-farming activities. Some of these results are quite surprising, as we detail in this report.

Alongside collecting data, we also published the Laos Financial Ecosystem Mapping Report, which describes the stakeholders involved in developing products, policies and programs relevant to Laotian farmers’ use of financial services. A similar report for Cambodia is in production.

Throughout Year Three, the team disseminated the research results at different events, including conferences in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Italy, Ireland and Indonesia. We moved forward with scientific publications, with several papers in an advanced state of preparation.

We also held our project's mid-term review in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which provided the research team with a chance to reflect with ACIAR on the project's progress. It also gave the full team time to discuss future data collection and publications.

This report provides more detail on our Year Three activities and outlines our plans for Years Four and Five. We look forward to your feedback.