5 Questions for Asisah Man
With export revenues exceeding US$523.33 million in 2025 (General Directorate of Rubber, 2026), natural rubber is one of Cambodia's most dynamic agricultural sectors.
But how can be guaranteed that this growth is free from deforestation and human rights violations? Ahead of the event: "Towards a Shared Asia-Pacific Roadmap for Traceable Agricultural Value Chains Decoupled from Deforestation" in Hanoi, 23–26 June 2026, we spoke with Mrs. Asisah Man, Project Manager at Oxfam Cambodia, about what meaningful human rights due diligence in the natural rubber sector requires.
Asisah Man
Asisah Man is a Project Manager at Oxfam in Cambodia, with over 15 years of experience in governance, responsible investment, and human rights. She has worked extensively at the intersection of land rights, agricultural value chains, and private sector accountability, with a strong focus on ensuring that economic development benefits communities—especially Indigenous peoples, women, and smallholder farmers.
At Oxfam, Asisah leads programmes that engage governments, civil society, and companies to promote human rights due diligence, sustainable supply chains, and inclusive development. Her work spans policy engagement, multi-stakeholder dialogue, and community-based approaches to strengthening land tenure security and labour rights.
She brings deep expertise in facilitating collaboration across sectors and advancing rights-based solutions in complex development contexts. Asisah is committed to ensuring that sustainability efforts, including deforestation-free supply chains are grounded in social justice, transparency, and accountability for affected communities.
1.
The EUDR addresses deforestation, but research and field experience suggest that land rights issues and environmental impacts in Cambodia’s rubber sector are often closely connected. Why is it important to address human rights due diligence alongside environmental due diligence — and what are the risks of treating them separately?
Cambodia’s rubber sector covered approximately 448,051 hectares in 2025. Of this, 52% are under industrial plantations—mainly through Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) while the remainder are family-owned. Expansion is concentrated in the northeastern highlands, where many Indigenous communities live.
For these communities, land is not only an economic asset—it is central to identity, culture, and livelihoods. Yet large-scale agricultural investments have often been developed without adequate recognition of customary land rights. This has led to land conflicts, loss of access to forests, and reduced livelihood options.
Deforestation and human rights impacts are therefore deeply interconnected. When forests are cleared for plantations, communities lose access to food sources, non-timber forest products, and traditional practices. Environmental degradation also directly affects health and well-being, through increased temperatures, pollution, and chemical exposure.
Human rights due diligence (HRDD) must therefore go hand-in-hand with environmental due diligence. Addressing them separately risks overlooking the full impact of investments and can perpetuate harm. In addition, the rubber sector employs thousands of workers. Companies have a responsibility to ensure decent working conditions, fair wages, and compliance with labour standards.
Integrating human rights and environmental due diligence is not only a moral obligation, it is essential for reducing risk, preventing conflict, and ensuring sustainable and resilient supply chains.
2.
Oxfam in Cambodia has been working with both communities and industry players on sustainable rubber production. Where do you see the most promising entry points for strengthening human rights standards across the value chain?
Compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) presents a key opportunity to strengthen human rights due diligence across the rubber value chain—particularly where past efforts have been limited.
With implementation deadlines set for December 2026 (large companies) and June 2027 (micro and small enterprises), there is now a critical window for companies to strengthen their systems. However, compliance should go beyond a technical requirement. It should be used as a catalyst to embed robust human rights and environmental standards across operations. Investors should also consider adopting credible certification schemes such as PEFC and FSC. These frameworks can help improve responsible sourcing, strengthen traceability, and enhance resilience, especially as climate change increasingly affects production.
Ultimately, the most effective entry point is a shift in mindset: from compliance-driven approaches to rights-based, risk-informed investment practices.
3.
Traceability systems are seen as a key tool for supply chain transparency. At the same time, knowing the origin of rubber is not the same as knowing whether the rights of people in producing areas have been respected. What complementary measures are needed?
Traceability is essential—but it is not sufficient. Knowing where rubber comes from does not guarantee that it was produced without human rights violations. Effective due diligence must answer deeper questions: Who produces the rubber? Under what conditions? Are workers protected and fairly paid? Are smallholders supported? Are child labour risks addressed?
In Cambodia, labour arrangements are complex, involving direct employment, intermediaries, and smallholders. These realities require complementary measures beyond traceability systems.
Key priorities include:
- Strong labour protections: All workers—regardless of employment arrangements—must be covered by labour law, receive fair wages, and have access to social protection.
- Meaningful community engagement: Communities must be continuously consulted on investment impacts, including land access, livelihoods, and local development needs.
- Accessible grievance mechanisms: Workers and communities need safe and trusted channels to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
- Transparency and accountability: Clear and accessible information about investments helps prevent conflict and builds trust across the supply chain. Traceability must therefore be combined with strong accountability systems to ensure that supply chains are not only transparent, but also fair and rights-respecting.
4.
The Hanoi workshop brings together governments, industry and community representatives. In your experience, what enabling conditions are needed to ensure that affected communities — including indigenous people and women — can engage as genuine partners in these processes?
For communities especially Indigenous peoples and women to engage as genuine partners, participation must be meaningful, not symbolic. First, communities must be informed early and in appropriate languages, with processes grounded in free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). Second, engagement must be ongoing. One-off consultations are not sufficient. Communities need time and space to understand issues, assess impacts, and contribute to solutions. Third, power imbalances must be addressed. Multi-stakeholder forums often reflect unequal power relations between governments, companies, and communities. Without deliberate efforts to create inclusive and safe spaces, these inequalities can limit meaningful participation.
Ensuring equitable participation is essential not only for fairness, but also for more effective and sustainable outcomes.
5.
Looking ahead: what would you consider meaningful progress on human rights due diligence in the natural rubber sector in Southeast Asia — and what role do you see for civil society in helping to achieve it?
Meaningful progress on human rights due diligence in the rubber sector must be measured by real change on the ground not by the number of policies or reports.
This includes:
- Reduced human rights harms
- Effective remedy for affected communities and workers where necessary
- Companies using their leverage to improve practices across supply chains, including intermediaries
It also requires a shift from traceability to rights-based performance where systems actively protect people, not just track products.
Resolving land rights issues is central to this progress, as land and resource rights remain at the core of many conflicts in the sector.
Civil society plays a critical role by:
- Monitoring and documenting human rights risks and violations
- Supporting capacity building for both communities and companies
- Facilitating inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue
- Advocating for stronger enforcement of laws and policies
- Promoting transparency and accountable investment
Where necessary, civil society also plays a watchdog role—holding companies accountable when harms occur and remedies are not delivered.
Achieving sustainable and deforestation-free supply chains require collective action. Governments, businesses, and civil society must work together to ensure that economic growth does not come at the cost of people’s rights.
