More than the Trees: A Comparative Study of the Contribution of Four Tree Plantation Models to Rural Livelihoods in Lao PDR

Abstract

This thesis explores how four different models of tree plantation established for forest production in Lao PDR (Laos) contributed to the livelihoods of participating households in four purposely-selected villages. The case study tree plantation models comprised two forms of 'land-sharing' concessions for eucalypts (Eucalyptus hybrids), and one each of contract eucalypt growing and farmer-led agroforestry using yang bong (Persea kurzii). Their implementation in Laos offered an opportunity for comparative assessment of the livelihood impacts of different tree plantations models, and the implications for rural development and poverty alleviation policies. Unlike most socio-economic studies of tree plantation in the Mekong region, my analysis considered the opportunity costs of households' pre-plantation activities and situated the returns from plantations within the participants' wider household income portfolio. A principal finding was that, despite the substantial decline of many natural resources in Laos, the agroecological environments of patches of secondary forests in various stages of fallow and regrowth, that farmers create through swidden agriculture, remain of fundamental importance to their livelihoods. The mean annual household environmental income - including from 'degraded' forests and swidden agriculture - in all case study villages was much higher than those reported in similar recent studies in Laos. This finding - which suggests a mismatch between policy makers', plantation companies' and local people's perceptions of the 'value' of forest lands - helps to explain why many local people oppose large-land concessions in Laos. Accordingly, the value of the current land use to rural livelihoods should be an issue of greater concern and more rigorous study in the context of land and development policies and programmes in Laos, particularly those that promote the conversion of land used for swidden agriculture. The results also showed that impacts were positive where plantation models allowed for intercropping by households and when plantation companies offered more labour for local people. In contrast, where contracts to grow trees were not honoured, crops could not be grown jointly, and plantation labour opportunities were limited, returns to households were not competitive with alternative land uses, including traditional swidden agriculture. Accordingly, in order to best contribute to livelihoods, tree plantation development should allow space for other land uses within the plantation system and adopt plantation management strategies that employ more local labour. The results also showed local people's interests in maintaining diversified livelihood strategies. Further, consistent with those of other recent studies of the swidden transition in Laos and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, results of the farmer-led agroforestry case study indicate that an unequal distribution of customary land among households within the community influences how farmers make claims to land and therefore the extent to which households can benefit from tree growing in practice. These results also show that new market opportunities and farmers' dynamic livelihood strategies both define and constrain the opportunities of agroforestry systems to contribute to land use transitions. In this case, the expansion of agricultural monocrops (e.g. banana plantations) is likely to exacerbate social differentiation, further diminish the safety net represented by 'common' forest lands and undermine prospects for realising Lao's national forest cover goals. Overall, while all the plantation models studied can impact positively on local livelihoods, their potential to do so increases where trees are integrated with other land uses, where more local labour is employed, and where the opportunity costs of conversion of land to tree plantations are lowest. These factors are each context-dependent.