Set Hach, chair of the Strey Phokphal Meanchey Agricultural Cooperative in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, has been named by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) among its 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems for Rural Development, Heifer International said in a statement carried by Global Agriculture.
She received the award from FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu at a ceremony at FAO headquarters in Rome on 15 October 2026, during the World Food Forum. The recognition was set up in the spirit of the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Set Hach joined a women's self-help group supported by Heifer International Cambodia in 2013, where she began saving and took financial literacy and leadership training. She became a group leader and a volunteer literacy trainer, was elected deputy chair of the cooperative and became its chair in 2017.
The cooperative was founded in 2016 with 82 members, 79 of them women. By 2025 it had 540 members, 451 of them women, in 30 villages. Its capital rose from about USD 2,275 to more than USD 130,000, with 3,014 member shares, and it set up 23 self-help groups with 556 members, 487 of them women, who have saved more than USD 54,000.
"Her leadership demonstrates how one woman's resolve can empower hundreds of smallholder farmers, transform rural communities and strengthen food systems," said Siyonn Sothearith, Director of Programs at Heifer International Cambodia.
Photo: David Dennis / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Global Agriculture
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