Despite her success in keeping COVID-19 under control in 2020, Cambodia is now facing a humanitarian crisis because of the new Delta variant, which is ravaging major cities and creating widespread food insecurity due to strict lockdowns and inadequate food distribution.

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Due to insufficient support from the government, elderly people are willing to sell food along roadsides to earn daily wages despite such actions putting them at an even greater risk to infection. Their ability to single-handedly construct these ‘bottom-up resilience methods’ puts them in a unique position where they are simultaneously the most vulnerable, and yet the most resilient demographic.

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The presence of street vendors is an intrinsic quality of city activation in Phnom Penh. Our research focuses on the area around the Doun Penh district, in Riverside, near Saravoan Pagoda, RUFA and Kandal Market, to analyse how low-income elderly are simultaneously affected by the lack of fresh food and benefitting from each other. We have noticed that many bottom-up initiatives in the form of food-selling and food pantries (Local4Local) are being conducted here.

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Primary data is acquired through street images taken by our locally based team members, as well as through interviews conducted with 5 individuals involved in non-profit initiatives during the pandemic. Our secondary research consists of the collation and analysis of online data and academic literature.

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Overall, friendly-city infrastructure of elderly people that recognises the essential nature of tuk-tuks and cyclos will create a more vibrant, COVID-safe cityscape to serve the residents of Phnom Penh.

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Through our research, we hope to contribute to a body of knowledge that can potentially help make significant contributions to developing relevant policies regarding elderly welfare.