Land Policy and Farming Practices in Laos

Bibliographic Data

ID4792545
AuthorsOlivier Ducourtieux (0000-0001-7363-7668, Lyon 1 Université), Jean‐richard Laffort (University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad), Silinthone Sacklokham (National University of Laos)
Year2005
Volume36
Issue3
Pages499-526
Publication date2005-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopment and Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.0012-155x.2005.00421.x
OpenAlexW2060201468
LanguageEN
Citations received64
References cited30

The government of Laos has identified the eradication of poverty as a priority. Given the primarily agricultural character of the country, it has selected land reform as a core policy to reach this goal. The policy has two major aims: to increase land tenure security in order to encourage farmer involvement in intensive farming, and to eliminate slash-and-burn agriculture to protect the environment in a country still rich in forest resources. State intervention takes the form of land allocation, a process which combines the protection of some areas of village land with the formal recognition of private ownership in authorized farming areas. In a country with different types of geography, the effects of the policy are variable, but the research presented in this article demonstrates that the land laws have shortcomings which allow for differing interpretations depending on the local social relationships. Since local specificities are not taken into account, the reform is proving counterproductive for both forest protection and agricultural modernization, as well as having a negative social impact by marginalizing the poorest farmers

Agricultural land · Agricultural policy · Agriculture · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Government (linguistics) · Intensive farming · Intervention (counseling) · Land tenure · Modernization theory · Order (exchange) · Poverty · Slash-and-burn · State (computer science) · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Land Rights and Reforms · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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