Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT)

What Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) does

Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) is a Cambodian non-profit NGO founded in 2001 by five founders who were part of the first educated generation after the Khmer Rouge period, originally operating as the Cambodian Volunteer Rural Development Team (CVRDT). The organization works to improve the living standards of Cambodia's rural poor while protecting natural resources, with a particular geographic focus on northeast Cambodia — Kratie, Stung Treng, and Mondulkiri provinces — where more than 80% of its projects are concentrated and over 60% are located in environmentally sensitive protected areas such as the River Dolphin Management Area, Stung Treng Ramsar Site, and Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary.

CRDT delivers an integrated portfolio of seven core programs — Food Security, Income Generation, Water Supply and Sanitation, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Environmental Education and Waste Management, Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET), and Health & Nutrition — supported by field-tested methodologies including a Circular Farming System, solar-powered water pumps and irrigation, bio-digesters for clean cooking fuel, climate-smart agriculture combined with agroforestry, and door-to-door waste collection and recycling systems. Implementation is conducted through community-based organizations (CBOs) in each target village, with field staff embedded in communities for extended periods to build trust and enable needs-based program design. The organization operates from a head office in Phnom Penh plus regional field offices in Kratie and Mondulkiri.

The business model is donor-funded grant-based delivery: CRDT does not charge beneficiary communities and operates entirely through grants from international development organizations, government agencies, and institutional donors. Documented partners include GIZ, The Asia Foundation, WWF, Wildlife Conservation Society, Composted, and Value Network Ventures (VNV), the latter supporting a carbon-credit-generating agroforestry program that the Executive Director has flagged as a strategic priority for long-term organizational sustainability. To date, CRDT reports reaching 77,392 direct families (310,252 indirect beneficiaries) across outcomes including 226 farmer groups with 7,458 members, 68 village savings groups serving ~2,040 families, 50 wells and 10 village water systems, 12 solar water pumps, 2,500 hectares enrolled in agroforestry, and 10,106 toilets installed to end open defecation. The Koh Trung Island waste management project has been adopted by Cambodia's Ministry of Environment as a national model for its Zero Waste Communities program.

Name

Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT)

Legal name

Cambodian Rural Development Team

Website

https://crdt.org.kh

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT) is a Cambodian non-profit NGO founded in 2001 that delivers integrated rural development and environmental conservation programs — including food security, water/sanitation, climate adaptation, and waste management — to rural poor and Indigenous communities in northeast Cambodia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Development Services

NAICS

Waste Management and Remediation Services (562)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950), Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Disaster Risk Reduction & Climate Risk Management (BPADALAK)

Keywords

• Rural development programs
• Community development services
• Agricultural training programs
• Water and sanitation services
• Environmental conservation projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Phnom Penh

HQ country

Cambodia

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donor Grants and Development Funding: CRDT operates as a non-profit NGO funded through grants and funding from international development organizations, government agencies, and donors to implement community development and conservation projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CRDT is a Cambodian nonprofit NGO that delivers integrated rural development programs to improve the living standards of Cambodia's rural poor while protecting natural resources. Its portfolio covers food security, income generation, water supply and sanitation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental education and waste management, community-based ecotourism, and health and nutrition for rural farming households and indigenous communities in northeastern Cambodia.

Product overview

CRDT is a local community development NGO that offers an integrated portfolio of development programs focused on improving rural livelihoods while protecting natural resources. The core programs include Food Security, Income Generation, Water Supply and Sanitation, Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Education and Waste Management, Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET), and Health and Nutrition. These programs work together through a multi-sector approach: Food Security and Health programs provide nutritional support through home gardens and clean water; Income Generation and Ecotourism create sustainable livelihoods; Climate Change and Environmental programs protect natural resources; Water and Sanitation ensures public health. CRDT also implements featured projects such as the Kratie Waste Management initiative and Community Agroforestry with Carbon Credits, which demonstrate innovative approaches to environmental protection and income generation. The organization focuses on northeast Cambodia, working primarily with rural poor communities, small-scale farmers, and Indigenous populations in environmentally sensitive protected areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Security Programs

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• CompostedcoreTechnology or IntegrationComposted provides technical expertise and support for waste recycling and composting operations, including home compost units and recycling banks on Koh Trung island.
• Kratie Municipality AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government partner collaborating on waste management initiatives, posting content on official Facebook page and supporting project implementation and monitoring.
• Phare Creative StudiosupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCreative agency supporting behavior change campaigns through development of communication materials and visual content for waste management awareness.
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWCS collaborates with CRDT on land use planning and conservation activities in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, supporting alternative livelihood development to reduce human pressure on wildlife habitats.
• WWFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWF partners with CRDT on conservation projects within the Stung Treng Ramsar wetland conservation site, working together on high-priority environmental protection initiatives.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WorldFish: WorldFish is a CGIAR research-for-development organization that works on aquatic food systems and smallholder aquaculture in Cambodia and across SE Asia. It is directly comparable to CRDT for its rural livelihoods focus, smallholder farmer engagement, and Cambodia country presence, though its domain (fish vs. CRDT's broader agriculture/ecotourism) is narrower.
• SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation): SNV is a Dutch development organization with active Cambodia operations in agriculture, renewable energy, and WASH for rural communities. It is highly comparable to CRDT for its integrated rural livelihoods and Cambodia focus, though operating at significantly larger scale and with broader geographic remit.
• GRET: GRET is a French international development NGO with long-standing Cambodia operations on rural development, agriculture, water/sanitation, and natural resource management. It is closely comparable to CRDT for its integrated rural livelihoods-plus-environment model and Cambodia country footprint, though larger and broader thematically.
• Heifer International: Heifer International operates Heifer Cambodia focused on smallholder agricultural development, livestock, and rural income generation. It is directly comparable to CRDT for its rural poor farmer engagement, agricultural training model, and Cambodia presence, though with a primarily livestock-centric program focus.

Broad incumbents

• Fauna & Flora International (FFI): FFI is a global conservation NGO with active Cambodia and Mekong-region programming on species and habitat protection integrated with community livelihoods. It is comparable to CRDT for combining conservation with rural community income generation, though FFI is a much larger international incumbent with broader geographic scope.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): IUCN operates an Asia Regional Office and has active Cambodia programming on biodiversity conservation, protected-area management, and natural resource governance. It is comparable to CRDT for its protected-area and community-conservation focus, though IUCN's role is more standards/policy-oriented and considerably larger in global scope.
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): WCS is a global conservation organization with active Cambodia operations including at Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (an existing CRDT partner). It overlaps with CRDT on conservation-linked rural livelihoods, alternative income generation, and protected-area engagement, though WCS operates at much larger scale and with a primarily conservation-centric mandate.
• WWF (World Wildlife Fund): WWF is a global conservation organization with a Cambodia country office that partners with CRDT on Stung Treng Ramsar wetland conservation. It is comparable for its conservation-plus-livelihoods approach and protected-area focus, though WWF is a broad incumbent with vastly larger global resources and a primarily biodiversity-led mandate.
• Conservation International: Conservation International is a global conservation NGO with Cambodia and Mekong-region programming on biodiversity, climate, and sustainable livelihoods. It is broadly comparable to CRDT for its integration of conservation with community development in protected landscapes, though CI is a much larger, multi-country incumbent.

Others

• Plan International Cambodia: Plan International Cambodia is a child-rights and community development NGO working on rural livelihoods, WASH, and youth empowerment. It is thematically related to CRDT for rural Cambodia community development programming, though its mission is broader (children's rights) and it is a substantially larger international organization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CRDTKratie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cambodian-rural-development-team-crdt-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT)