Nurturing Young Innovators: From a Thesis to a Sustainable Farming Solution
…What if a university thesis didn’t end on a bookshelf—but instead ended up helping farmers, communities, and the environment?
That’s exactly what Her Agri set out to do.
- Kuntheavotey Mech
In 2024, Her Agri was one of six pioneering teams—made up of 50 young innovators from 11 institutions across Cambodia—selected to join our DakDam Innovators for Resilient Agriculture program.
Today, Her Agri is an emerging agricultural start-up committed to supporting Cambodia’s farming communities through sustainable innovation. Their solution? transforming discarded cabbage waste into cabbage bait, a natural method for preventing insect pests in Brassicaceae crops. By offering an eco-friendly alternative to chemical pesticides, Her Agri helps farmers protect both their harvests and the environment.
The impact is tangible. Just one liter of cabbage bait can help reduce approximately 14 kilograms of carbon footprint—a small change that contributes to a much larger climate and environmental benefit.
What began a thesis soon evolved into a real-world solution shaped by community needs.
“This cabbage bait is more than a business idea. It represents four years of learning, growth, and passion from my graduate studies in agricultural science,” shared Phan Rotha, CEO and Founder of Her Agri. “It could have ended as just a final thesis—but I truly wanted to bring it to life.”
Believing in her idea and persistently searching for ways to turn it into reality, Rotha found that opportunities began to follow.
“When I joined the DakDam Innovators for Resilient Agriculture program, I had the opportunity to share the idea again during the hackathon stage—this time to other participants to form a team. Something clicked. They believed in the idea too, and that’s how Her Agri was formed.”
Following the team formation and hours of discussion, Her Agri pitched their idea alongside other teams in the hackathon. Their idea stood out, and the team was selected as one of the outstanding ideas, receiving USD 500 in seed funding, along with training and mentoring support from Impact Hub Phnom Penh team, to incubate their business idea.
With these resources, the team conducted community research, developed their first prototype, tested the product with farmers, redesigned the packaging, and refined their promotional materials—embracing an iterative process that strengthened the solution at every step.
Building on this progress, Her Agri was later selected to receive an additional USD 1,500 in seed funding at the DakDam Innovators for Resilient Agriculture Demo Day, enabling the team to further refine and strengthen their prototype.
Building Impact Beyond the Program!
Even after completing the DakDam Innovators for Resilient Agriculture program, Her Agri continued to expand their network and visibility by participating in additional startup support programs and competitions.
“Through the experiences and knowledge we gained from DakDam, we joined the 2025 GCIP Cambodia Accelerator Program (Cohort 2),” Rotha shared. “Receiving around USD 2,000 in support from GCIP was incredibly emotional for us. It showed the potential of our product, especially as we were selected alongside more mature startups—many of whom we consider our role models. We never imagined we would make it this far.”
With this support, the team continued validating their product, improving its formula, and preparing their very first demo farm—a milestone that brought their solution even closer to farmers’ fields.
“And just like that,” Rotha reflected, “our journey with cabbage bait continues.”
Her Agri’s story is a reminder of what can happen when young people are given the right support: ideas evolve into solutions, research turns into impact, and innovation grows from the ground up.
If you’d like to learn more about Her Agri’s work, feel free to explore their Facebook page—or reach out to us, and we’d be happy to connect you directly with the team.
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