Luận án analyzing impacts of rubber plantation on poverty reduction, land ownership and natural forest resource in northern, lao PDR

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANING MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORT NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAOS VIETNAM LAOS HOUNGPHET CHANTHAVONG ANALYZING IMPACT OF RUBBER PLANTATION ON POVERTY REDUCTION, LAND OWNERSHIP AND NATURAL FOREST RESOURCE IN NORTHERN LAO PDR Specialty : Economics Agriculture Code : 62.31.1001 Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen A dissertation Submitted to the National Economics University, Vietnam and National University of Laos in fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics HANOI, 2013 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 i DECLARATION Being aware of legal liability I declare, that the diploma thesis was written by myself and it does not include any contents obtained in the illegal way I also declare that the presented thesis was not a subject of any university professional title’s proceedings previously In addition I declare that the presented version of the thesis is identical with the electronic version included The author of the thesis HOUNGPHET CHANTHAVONG Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 ii ABSRACT This examined the economic impacts of rubber plantations on rural people’s livelihoods and forest resources Sing district of LuangNamTha Province was selected for field data collection and different techniques for data collection at the field level were designed focusing on qualitative data analysis The outcome from the field data analysis was shared with the government officers at both provincial and national levels The results of the study illustrated that rubber plantation have both positive and negatives impacts The rubber planting provides alternatives on land use opportunity for the upland cultivators and it will also contributes to the achievement of forestry strategies implementation to increase the forest cover in the future The negative impacts happened to the livelihoods of local people, especially during the awaiting period for latex tapping However, those impacts will decrease when income can be generated from the rubber latex The study revealed that immediate technical assistance at the provincial and district level are required Natural resource management and land use planning need to be improved to minimize the impacts of wide spreading of land conversion Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 iii ACLNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to PGS.TS.Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen for her advices and supports during my research activities till its completion I am grateful for Prof.Dr Tran Tho Dat Vice President of National Economics University of Vietnam and Assoc.Prof Dr Lai Phi Hung, the coordinator for Lao-Vietnam PhD program for his effort facilitating during my study I would like to express my deep gratitude to all relevant staffs of the Faculty of Forestry, National University of Laos who have been very helpful in facilitating my study I am very grateful to Prof Dr.Soukkongseng Saignaleuth, the President of National University of Lao PDR for his support and allowing me to enroll in this study program I have also received impressive supports from my collaborating institutions, including: the Department of Forestry, the Departments of Investment and Planning (Ministry of Planning and Investment), the National Economic Research Institute and the National Land Management Authority They have kindly provided me very good sources of relevant information and data Moreover, the government officials in the province of LuangNamTha and Sing District provided me worthwhile collaboration and assistance during my field research All visited families and farmers, who were very active involved in giving me accurate information and very much appreciated for their devoted time Finally, unforgettable, I would like to give special thanks to my colleague at the faculty of Forestry especially Dr Sithong Thongmanivong, the director of Natural Resource Management and Climate Change for his support reviewing my writing I would also like to thank to my whole family members they are always support me to continue my study, especially my loved wife and daughters Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ABSRACT .ii ACLNOWLEDGEMENT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv ABBREVIATION vi LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER 1: THESIS INTRODUCTION 1.1 1.2 Rationale Objectives 1.3 1.4 Research Questions Scope of the study and study area 1.5 Research Methodology 1.5.1 Research model 1.5.2 Data Collection Method 1.5.3 Data Collection Process 11 1.5.4 Data profile 12 1.5.5 Data processing 15 1.6 Research Contribution 15 1.7 Research Limitation 16 CHAPTER 2: ANALYTICAL FRAMWORK OF ANALYZING IMPACT OF RUBBER PLANTATION ON POVERTY REDUCTION, LAND OWNERSHIP AND NATURAL FOREST RESOURCE 17 2.1 Basic issue of impact analysis 17 2.1.1 Impact assessment 17 2.1.2 Basic theory of impact evaluation 18 2.2 Rubber Plantation Development 18 2.2.1 Overview of Rubber Plantation Development 18 2.2.2 Factors Determining Rubber Plantation Development 22 2.2.3 Plantation and Economic Development 23 2.3 Political and Legislation Factors on rubber plantation development 25 2.3.1 Government Strategies for rubber production in Lao PDR 25 2.3.2 Laws related to plantation development 25 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 v 2.3.3 Policies related to plantation development 29 2.3.4 Policies on Land Ownership 32 2.3.5 Forest Land Conversion and Concession for Plantation 34 2.3.6 Policies impacts on plantation development 46 2.4 Existing approaches for analyzing impact of rubber plantation on poverty reduction and land ownership and natural forest resources 50 2.4.1 Impact of Rubber Plantation on Poverty Reduction 51 2.4.2 Impacts of Rubber Plantation on Land Ownership 55 2.4.3 Impacts of Rubber Plantation on Natural Resource 56 2.5 Lesson learn from Vietnam 58 CHAPTER 3: ANALYZING IMPACTS OF RUBBER PLANTATION ON POVERTY REDUCTION AND LAND OWNERSHIP AND NATURAL FOREST RESOURCES IN NORTHERN LAOS 61 3.1 3.2 Overview of Sing District, North of Laos 61 Rubber Introduction in Northern Laos 63 3.3 Factors Determining Rubber Plantation Development in Northern Laos 65 3.3.1 Lao Government’s Foreign Investment Promotion Policy 66 3.3.2 Regional Market Influences 67 3.3.3 Villagers’ Motivation 68 3.4 Impacts of Rubber Plantation on Poverty Reduction, Land Ownership and Natural Forest Resource in Northern Laos 70 3.4.1 Impact on Poverty Reduction 70 3.4.2 Impact on land ownership 76 3.4.3 Impact on Natural resources 79 3.5 Reason of negative impacts 83 CHAPTER4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 87 4.1 4.2 Conclusion 87 Recommendation 89 4.3 Implication 92 REFERENCE 94 ANNEX 99 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 vi ABBREVIATION Lao PDR Lao People’s Democratic Republic DAFI Development of Agriculture, Forestry and Industry NAFRI National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute FRC Forest Research Centre PAFO Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office DAFEO District Agriculture and Forestry Extension Office IRSC International Rubber Study Group WWF World Wide Fund FDI Foreign Direct Investment CPI Committee Planning and Investment FAO Food and Agriculture Organization MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry NTFPs Non-Timber Forest Products PPID Provincial Planning and Investment Division SEIA Social Environment Impact Assessment NLMA National Land Management Authority MPI Ministry of Planning and Investment MOD Ministry of Defense CPMI Committee for Promotion Management of Investment DOF Department of Forestry GTZ German Technical Cooperation Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Participant criteria 13 Table 1.2: Number of interviewees in each studied village 13 Table 1.3: Number of interviewees in each studied village by economic status 14 Table 2.1: Land use types and their responsible body 26 Table 2.2: Scope permission for land lease and concession 38 Table 2.3: Differentiation between land lease and concession 39 Table 2.4: Plantation investment projects in provinces 44 Table 2.5: Investment areas before and after land concession project in Barjieng and LaoGnam district 48 Table 3.1: Rubber plantation in hectare by provinces, in Laos 64 Table 3.2: Rubber Plantation in five provinces in the North, Laos-2006 65 Table 3.3: Hardyao Village Land Zoning, 2005 and 2011 78 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Map of Sing District Figure 1.2: Conceptual framework of the research study Figure 2.1: Bottom up concession flow 41 Figure 2.2: Top down concession flow 43 Figure 3.1: Willing of households in rubber plantation investment and involvement .69 Figure 3.2: Main income sources of visited villagers, categorized by socioeconomic status 71 Figure 3.3: An increase in rice areas in Sing district in 1999 and 2009 72 Figure 3.4: Cost of rubber products before exporting 73 Figure 3.5: Comparing rubber incomes among three different groups 74 Figure 3.6: Livelihood improvement resulting from rubber plantation expansion 75 Figure 3.7: Comparing GDP growth in LuangNamtha province, 2003 to 2008 76 Figure 3.8: Percentage of forest and land use changes between 1991 and 2004, Sing district 80 Figure 3.9: Rubber Plantation Area in 2006, 2007 and 2010 (Planned), Sing district 81 Figure 3.10: Comparing Rubber Plantation Area in different districts, 2002 to 2008 81 Figure 3.11: Map of Sing’s Land Use and Forest Cover 2002 83 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 CHAPTER THESIS INTRODUCTION Sustainable forestry and land use to promote social and economic development is a key component of development policy in many developing countries Putting in place the right combination of resource use, industrial development policies to meet these goals is a complex policy challenge This thesis analyzes Impacts of Rubber Plantation on Poverty Reduction, Land Ownership and Natural Forest Resource in Northern, Lao PDR using in-dept interview technique for data collection as well as using conduction analysis to produce the results This chapter provides an overview of the thesis and its structure It begins by discussing the problem statement of the research, followed by its rationality, objectives, questions, scope, research site, contribution and limitation of the present study It then outlines the structure of the study 1.1 Rationale A demand for rubber production has grown worldwide significantly over the past decades due to rapid progressive economies of China and India Global rubber consumption has risen up to 5.9% in average annually since early 2000s (Douangsavanh, Thammavong& Noble 2008 &Vongkhamor, S et al 2007) Although the market for rubber in industrial nations is more stable and unlikely expected to increase, rubber is extremely increasing in "New Asia emerging economies" including China, India and other the ASEAN countries In 2003, China’s rubber imports shot up almost 24% (Raintree 2005) This has created opportunities for, then, rubber plantation programs to be largely invested in potential rubber producing countries in order to supply the rubber market demand In Lao PDR, historically, rubber was first introduced by French planters in Champasack Province (in 1930) during the colonial period After that, more than 50 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Paddy land d) c) b) area a) Agricultural f) 109 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 area Residential land Plantation c) b) a) Land use zones resources? use the land/ rights? cannot Who Who has user use? ones? the use? Which the about to there restrictions Are decides Who 110 outsiders)? (to be sold/ leased Can the land be inherited? Can the land the land? Who allocates certificates? Existing b) a) Others e) d) 111 Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Questions Answers Sources b) Decision making Who is making main decisions now? Is this different from the past? Who is enforcing the rules and regulations applying to the use of land and resources? Has this changed since the time of the LUA, relocation, in the past 10 years etc.? Do the villagers have any decision making power in use and allocation of resources in the different land use zones? c) Conflict resolution Are there any conflicts over resources Over between what villagers? type of land/resources? Are there any conflicts with outsiders? Over what type of land/resources? Are there more or less conflicts compared to the time before the LUA, the relocation, the Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Comments 113 development project, 10 years ago? Who is solving conflicts between villagers? Who is solving conflicts between villagers and outsiders? How are conflicts solved? What ‘laws’ or traditions are the basis for conflict resolution? What exactly b) Conflict with is done there is if outsiders a conflict? (based examples) on a) Conflicts between villagers Other comments Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 114 What are the main issues in the village? What communal land areas were identified? How is the land managed? How does communal land contribute to the economy and social well-being of individual households and the entire village? Land investment for rubber plantation: o Is your village or part of your village land in the investment project for rubber plantation, if so when? o Why your village was chosen? o Who decide your village to be under the plantation project? o What are procedures for rubber investment project? o What benefits does the village receive from the investment project? o Does the village lose any benefit from this investment? o Does the village have contract with the investment project? o Does the village have problem with land use after investment project implementation? o If so how problems are solved? o Will the investment expand in the village? Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 115 Annex 2: Questionnaire for Household Household code: ; Village: .Date: ; Interviewer: Interviewee: ; Family relation: .(husband,wife, children, sun in law, daughter in law, Other ) Household status: กWell off กmiddle กpoor Number of member in the household Age Male Female Responsibility and role in family 1-5 years 6-15 years 16-35 years 36-50 years 50-65 years >65 years Household background Family establishment (Year of marry?) Hometown before married? husband/wife: When did you come to settle here? Why did you move here? Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 116 Land resources: How many plots of land you have? Paddy land Plot Area (ha) Acquisition (buy/inherit/occupy) Year of acquisition Yield Location/-Distance from house Acquisition (buy/inherit/occupy) Year of acquisition Yield Location/-Distance from house Yield Location/-Distance Plot Plot Plot Swidden Plot Plot Area (ha) Plot Plot Plot Planted area (Sugarcanes, Rubber, Other cash crop) Plot Area Acquisition Year of (ha) (buy/inherit/occupy) acquisition Acquisition (buy/inherit/occupy) Year of acquisition from house Plot Plot Plot Orchard Plot Area (ha) Yield Plot Plot Plot Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Location/-Distance from house 117 Residential land Plot Area (ha) Acquisition Year of acquisition (buy/inherit/occupy) Plot Plot Plot Social relation: Close cousin within the village Cousin in Village relation (Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, others Activities helping cousin Number of time helping Activities that receive assistance /or ask for assistance Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Number of times receiving assistance 118 Cousins outside village Cousin in other village (Name, Village, -District, Province) relation (Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, others Activities helping cousin Number of time helping Activities that receive assistance /or ask for assistance Number of times receiving assistance Household income -Sources of incomes Amount per month/ Which month(s) Ranking - Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Year of receiving income 119 Incomes that used to receive Amount per month/ Year of not Which receiving -sources month(s) - Land concession for rubber plantation Is your land inside concession areas? Which company? How did the company approach to you? Have you involved in defining concession area? Can you refuse to not be involved in the project? What benefits have you received from the rubber concession? Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 Reasons 120 What benefits have you lost from the concession project? Have you involved in this rubber plantation concession? If so which activities have you involved? Reason for being invited to be involved: • Labor • Land • Knowledge • Connection from (friend, cousin) • budget • approached by investor • If not, because of not having: • Labor • Land • Knowledge • Connection from (friend, cousin) • budget • approached by investor • Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 121 Benefit sharing Payer Item êȾ-Àº¤% ®ðìò¦ñ©% ìñ©% ²¾¡¦È¸-ºˆ-Å Labour Land Seedling Fertilizer Pesticide Machinery Land preparation Land rehabilitation Others Items Receiver Yourself % Company % State % Other Yield Profit Use of land and forest resources Prior concession for rubber plantation, how many types of land and forest? What benefits have you received from forest such as NTFP collection and timber use? Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 122 Do you need permission prior to collect NTFP or to use forest land? If so why? After concession for rubber, have you still used timber and collected NTFP in your village? Do you need permission prior to use the forest? In your opinion, have the land and forest use changed after rubber plantation concession? What did you with your land before rubber plantation concession from outsider? Do you have a contract with the concession project? After concession, what rights you have on your land? Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 123 Calendar of Labor use Activities/labor use of household Month/Number of days Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận Văn A-Z Mail: luanvanaz@gmail.com Phone: 0972.162.399 10 11 12 [...]... following regions and categories: Article11) and assigned role and responsibility for government institutions as expressed in Table 2.1: Table 2.1: Land use types and their responsible body Land types Assigned Ministry Agricultural land Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Forest land Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water area land Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Industrial land Ministry of Industry... includes meeting the Director General of the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to understand the policy context of forestry in Laos Within this department, meeting with the head of the division of production forest and forestry business was organized to get insight of business in plantation in Laos cover both issues and opportunities in plantation business in Laos Director... of policies, laws, Presidential edicts, decrees, regulations, and rules and principles on land management; 2 to undertake land survey, land classification and land use planning at the local, regional and national levels; 3 to coordinate with concerned sectors and local administrations to plan the use of land, to protect and develop land, to classify land, to assess the quality of land, to define land. .. plantation The second component focuses on the context of rubber plantation in the northern region Details of rubber plantation will cover types of investors, sources of investment fund, location and size of plantation area, forms of investment and ownership as well as period of investment The last but very important component relates to impacts of rubber plantation Particular interested will be placed on. .. for consideration and endorsement It is necessary to be clear understanding on definition of land ownership and land tenure and it needs to consider a size and location of plantation investment purposed by local farmers, companies and external investors In the past, local farmers located their plantation within their own land or in a spare land that was Viết thuê luận văn thạc sĩ, luận án tiến sỉ - Luận. .. administrations, and also assigns responsibility for the management of land use to concerned sectors such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, the Ministry of Communication, Transport, Post and Construction, the Ministry of Information and Culture, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Security Land in the whole country is divided into the... policies on rubber plantation development These documents were obtained from the Department of Forestry (DoF) of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Land Development Department (LDD) of the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment A local policy and regulation on investment in rubber plantation were also collected at LuangNamTha provincial and district offices of Agriculture and Forestry, Investment... livelihoods in the northern part of Lao PDR 2 evaluate the contribution of rubber expansion on natural resources accessibility and utilization and on the sustainability of environmental condition 3 Give recommendations to multiply the contribution and avoid negative effect of rubber investment on local livelihood and natural resources 1.3 Research Questions This study is attempting to understand the impacts of. .. publications found that there are adverse impacts of rubber plantation development on forest and land use as well as local economics Large areas of natural forest are simply converted into monoculture tree plantation Besides this, road, mining and hydropower construction are some other main threats to bio-diversity in Lao PDR (WREA, 2009) It is a question of pressure on land resources with an increasing... negative impacts of rubber plantation on poverty reduction and land ownership and natural forest resource in northern part of Laos Though several similar studies have been conducted in Southeast region and especially in Laos, very few of them can illustrate in both qualitative and quantitative scientific manner that reflect to the true situation of the rubber plantation expansion in the northern Laos The