Hanging in the balance : equity in community-based natural resource management in Asia

The landscape of Northern Lao PDR is a tapestry of mountainous terrain dissected by river valleys, and is rich with both ethnic and biological diversity. Poverty levels are high and most people have traditionally depended on swidden agriculture for their subsistence. The government of Lao PDR seeks to stop swidden farming, which it views as environmentally degrading, and to reduce poverty by promoting the adoption of permanent commodity-oriented agricultural crops. Growing market demands for sugar and rubber in China, and the success of a model rubber plantation in Luang Namtha province, have resulted in a boom of sugar cane and Para rubber plantations. This paper investigates the impact of cash crops on livelihoods and land tenure of local people in Sing District, or Muang Sing. The study focuses on equity, particularly in terms of access to land and natural resources among local people after the introduction of cash crops. We examine issues of land tenure, the implications of transitioning from selfsufficient food production to market based production, outside influences on agricultural production and land use, and government policies on swidden cultivation, opium eradication, land allocation, and village consolidation.