Careers at Ibis Rice Conservation Company Ltd
IBIS Rice is an ambitious not-for-profit conservation enterprise working with Cambodian farmers to produce world-class organic jasmine rice while standing guard for 500000 hectares of precious forest and wetlands conserving more than 50 endangered animal species and increasing the incomes of 1000 rice-farming families.
About us
ABOUT
IBIS Rice is an ambitious, not-for-profit conservation enterprise working with Cambodian farmers to produce world-class, organic jasmine rice while standing guard for Mother Nature in a region whose biodiversity is a magnet for poachers and loggers. We launched in 2009, and, thanks to our consumers, we are already protecting 500,000 hectares of precious forest and wetlands, conserving more than 50 endangered animal species, and increasing the incomes of 1,000 rice-farming families.
IBIS Rice partners with farmers who are willing to rethink their operations, balancing generations of hereditary know-how with today’s technology and ideas. We work only inside national parks, replenishing the rice fields between harvests, and the farmers are committed to zero deforestation as a result of their farmland. Our emblem, the Giant Ibis, is the national bird of Cambodia and No. 1 on our list of animals to save from extinction.
WHAT WE DO
The IBIS Rice initiative began when we discovered how endangered animals, like the Giant Ibis, were competing with humans for the same prized natural resources in one of the last remainingecosystems of its kind. The humans were winning, obviously, and the Ibis was as good as extinct. So, together with local farmers, we devised a plan where man and animal could coexist while actually improving the state of their habitat.
We buy paddy (rice still in its husk or not yet threshed) directly from the farmers—paying up to 50% above market price. We process, package, market and sell a range of jasmine wholefoods and snacks, allowing the farmers to focus on working their land. In exchange, they commit to zero deforestation and zero poaching, certifying them as Wildlife Friendly and preserving a slice of one of Southeast Asia’s most diverse ecosystems.
1,000 farmers from 12 remote villages are now certified or on their way, and, as a result, the Giant Ibis population is slowly recovering, along with a number of other threatened species. Our satellite monitoring team is watching out for deforestation, Cambodia’s top restaurants are serving our pure jasmine rice and major supermarkets across the country have our products on their shelves.
WHY IBIS RICE
IBIS Rice is grown by hand on Cambodia’s northern plains, where mineral-rich waters run off the Dangrek Mountains and feed the soil in Southeast Asia’s last open deciduous forest—a patchwork of grassy savannahs and thriving woodlands. In this unique environment, our farmers plant just one crop per year, allowing it to mature slowly into the finest quality, fragrant, long-grain jasmine rice—a truly Cambodian variety known locally as Phkar Romduol.
Certified organic to both European and US standard, IBIS Rice is now selling around the globe. We hope that consumers recognise the cycle we are creating, where purchasing our products equates to supporting traditional farmers, conserving endangered animals, and protecting precious forests. Is the world ready for IBIS Rice? There is plenty at stake. And we are just getting started.