| Abstract: |
| The objectives of the study on “Farmers’ Adaptation to Rural Development Under Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project: A Case Study of Sobngouang Village, Khamkeuth District, Bolikhamxay Province, Lao PDR” were; 1) to study the farmers’ adaptation to agricultural practice and its productivity due to land use change after dam construction under the Thuen-Hinboun Hydropower Project and; 2) to investigate how farmers adapted in terms of household economy and marketing to land use change and expansion of consumption and modernization. The research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Reviews of literature were compiled and secondary data were collected from various sources. The data were later analyzed and used to complement primary data obtained by means of questionnaire from 66 farmer households (all households were included). Other data collecting methods included field walk survey, observation, in-depth interviews and group discussions in order to acquire other relevant information. These data were reviewed in comparison to the basic information compiled by the Thuen-Hinboun Hydropower Project and the district administrative office. The data were then qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics including numbers, percentage and means. The results were descriptively presented together with figures and tables. Based on the study, it was found that government development policy and dam construction affected all farmer households, especially two main policies, namely, Stabilization of shifting cultivation policy aiming to reduce and stabilize farming in the highlands, and Land and forest allocation policy, both leading to positive and negative impacts. In the past prior to dam construction, 83.7 percent of land in Bon Phu (highland areas) were used to practice shifting upland rice cultivation and other crops and 7.7 percent of land in Bon Piang (low land areas) were utilized for the same activities as well as for river bank gardens. At present, as a result of the implementation of the government policy through activities and assistances of the Hydropower Project, it was observed that land use and cropping practice have been changed. That is, in the Bon Phu, only 47.5 percent of the areas were used for shifting upland rice cultivation and for growing other crops. In total 6.4 percent of land was used for permanent upland rice farming and agarwood agroforestry systems. Meanwhile, in the Bon Piang, the farmers have increasingly used the land from 12.7 percent to 23.6 percent. The land of 13.9 Rai was also allocated to compensate for the reduction of river bank garden areas, i.e., from 2.5 percent to 0.6 percent of total agricultural land. In this area, the farmers changed from practicing shifting cultivation ฉ to the permanent systems. They were supported to grow fruit trees mixed with field crops or permanent orchards, accounting for 9.8 percent of the area, and also to grow agarwood or practice agroforestry. Moreover, some farmers have adapted the land use pattern by themselves so as to grow paddy rice in the Bon Homhuai (the valley area). Starting in 2003, this land use pattern now covers 16 percent of the village’s total agricultural area. At the same time, where used to be fishing areas of the village (10 wang and 7 kaeng) have disappeared after dam construction because of rising level of the water, making fishing actives difficult, and led to the migration of fish and other aquatic animals as well. The farmers’ animal husbandry was also affected as the village grazing areas in the natural forest reduced from two large areas to only one limited area. Resulting from these changes, the farmers had to adjust the cropping systems, especially for upland rice. Farmers changed from the old upland rice cultivating system with slash and burn and rotating the cropping area with the fallow period of 5–12 years to the permanent systems with the fallow period of 3-5 years. Consequently, the average upland rice yield reduced from 226.8 kg/Rai to 116.9 kg/Rai. Although the paddy rice systems in the Bon HomHuai tended to produce greater yields on the average of 312.9 kg/Rai, However, the yields gained were not adequate for consumption throughout the year. This situation led to increasingly use of agricultural technologies in the area, for example, two village small tractors, water pumps, chemical sprayers and other production devices. Fruit trees, including mango and lychee were grown in the permanent orchard systems, mixed with pine apple, water melon, maize and upland rice. The Hydropower Project supported fruit tree seedlings, pesticide, and chemical fertilizer and provided training, trailed for proper husbandry methods and assisted in terms of marketing. The most important factor for adaptation was the economic potential as the costs for changing land use patterns and for crop and animal production factors have been increased. Other significant factors included leadership and use of local wisdom in adapting processes as the farmers could invent and adjust production methods to suit with the present situations. Other factors played only minor roles. The farmers group classified as above the government poverty criteria adapted themselves by focusing on growing rice and raising animals to gain savings. For those not in that group attempted to improve themselves by cropping upland rice and raising animals for selling and also made an effort to gain more off-farm income (labor and collecting none-timber forest products) in order to buy rice for consumption. Overall, this research found that 94 percent of the farmers viewed that these changes after dam construction led to the overall improvement of their livelihoods. |
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