IN THE FIELDS OF LAOS

The livelihood of ethnic minorities living in the mountains of Laos has been threatened by alarmingly high food insecurity and chronic malnutrition rates. This vulnerability is linked to a structural context as well as natural and political events. Rural development is one of the top national priorities for the Laos PDR government. Since the beginning of the 1990s, this particular effort has been characterized by the implementation of a regional development plan. This plan is centered on the...
more »

The livelihood of ethnic minorities living in the mountains of Laos has been threatened by alarmingly high food insecurity and chronic malnutrition rates. This vulnerability is linked to a structural context as well as natural and political events. Rural development is one of the top national priorities for the Laos PDR government. Since the beginning of the 1990s, this particular effort has been characterized by the implementation of a regional development plan. This plan is centered on the improvement and the construction of transportation routes in order to provide access to remote areas. However, 80% of the country is mountainous and many villages remain isolated. To integrate them into the development plan, the national response has been to move certain villages from upland areas down to the plains. Moving villagers has been exposed as a good option to fulfill the national rural development objectives, which are:
Eradicating opium production by 2005
Eradicating slash and burn cultivation by 2010 (except perhaps for rubber cultivation...);
Poverty reduction by 2010, and a decrease of 50% by 2005;
Education for everybody by 2020.
In many resettlement communities, the mortality rate has more than doubled, with certain villages reaching up to a 20% mortality rate in their first year of installation. Overall the resettlement process has affected approximately 75% of all villages in northern Laos. The main constraints in the resettlement process are linked to the lack of natural resources and shortages in arable land, both of which are further complicated by the deterioration of the health status and a pressing need for food supplies.The economic equilibrium has also been adversely affected in the upland villages by the elimination of important means of production, such as the upland rice cultivation and cash-producing opium cultivation.

Mathias Depardon
« less