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

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANING
NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY
VIETNAM
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORT
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAOS
LAOS







HOUNGPHET CHANTHAVONG
HOUNGPHET CHANTHAVONGHOUNGPHET CHANTHAVONG
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

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

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.


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.

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 Rationale 1
1.2 Objectives 3
1.3 Research Questions 4
1.4 Scope of the study and study area 4

1.5 Research Methodology 6
1.5.1 Research model 7
1.5.2 Data Collection Method 8
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

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 Overview of Sing District, North of Laos 61
3.2 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 Conclusion 87
4.2 Recommendation 89
4.3 Implication 92
REFERENCE 94
ANNEX 1 99

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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


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


viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Map of Sing District 6
Figure 1.2: Conceptual framework of the research study 7
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




1
CHAPTER 1
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

2
hectares of rubber plantation areas were again established into Bachiangchalernsouk
District, Champasack Province by the Development of Agriculture, Forestry and
Industry (DAFI) (NAFRI 2008). From 1994 to 1996, over 342 hectares of rubber
plantation were established by the Hmong villagers at HadNyao village, Namtha
district, Laungnamtha Province. In this period, rubber plantation development was
in an initial stage. However, rubber plantation has been rapidly increasing in the last
few years, resulting from the high market demand for latex from China, India,
Thailand and Vietnam (Alton et al., 2005; FRC, 2005) and a consequence of
establishment of recent government policy on the investment promotion. This
creates more opportunities for both foreign and domestic investors to interest in
large scale investment business on land concession.
The government of Laos has recognized investors’ interest in rubber
production as the best economic potential which could contributes to the national
economy and ensure socially and economically improvement of local farmers. “Lao
PDR is aiming to expand its rubber cultivated area to 180,000 hectares by 2010.
Through this expansion policy, income will be generated through the export of
rubber, and it is expected to create jobs for plantation workers, tappers, processors

and rubber dealers. This policy will also enhance Laos’ various resettlement
strategies and rapidly alleviate poverty among the rural communities. Through the
rubber industry, it is hoped that further foreign direct investment will flow into Laos
(Rasphone 2009).
Since earlier 1990s, promotion of agricultural commodities’ production has
been implemented in the Northern part of Lao PDR in order to stabilize shifting
cultivation and opium poppy production. Para rubber regarded as “green gold” or
“the tree of hopes” was introduced in various areas in Northern provinces. Since
2000, the Government of Laos has opened land investment for rubber plantation to
both domestic and foreign enterprise, aiming to improve rural people’s livelihoods
and to graduate from poverty. Many degraded forest areas have been conversed into
rubber plantation and this practice was extensively common (Douangsavnah,

3
Thammavong& Noble 2008). The increase of rubber plantation has resulted from
infrastructure development and changes of institutionalization to support regional
trading (Leebouapao et al. 2005). Rubber plantation is the hope of local people to
improve their quality of life. It is believed that, rubber plays an important role in
generating alternative income of local villagers. It is recognized as crucial options
for the poverty eradication of the Government of Laos.
Thus, when the market began to boom in 2004, the demand on lands for
rubber plantations have increased significantly. As a result, the traditional
agricultural practices of the local in the Northern Laos have recently shifted from
subsistence based production towards market based production. Since rural farmers
have potentials to connect to agricultural market information, their fallows are
converting into cash crops such rubber fields. The extensive rubber plantation is
currently a controversial issue concerning its impacts on rural livelihoods and
environmental condition (Thongmanivong et al. 2006). Although several studies has
been done to seek the impact of the plantation on local livelihood such as Shing
(2008), Thongmanivong et. al, (2008), they are not in-dept enough to understand the

links between the plantation development and the local livelihood due to their lack
of consideration of social factors. Furthermore, Lao overall still has a lack of
experiences and knowledge on rubber, most of the techniques derived from China &
Thailand, even though there is a rubber planting guideline, produced by NAFRI
recently (2008). Therefore, there is a need to further investigate whether rubber is
the best answer to poverty eradiation and to improve livelihoods and ensure
sustainable natural resource utilization and accessibility.
1.2 Objectives
In general, this research aims to examine the economic impacts of rubber
plantations on rural people’s livelihoods and local land and forest resources. In
particular, the specific objectives of this research are to:


4
1. Investigate impacts of land conversion for rubber on improving rural
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 land conversion for
rubber plantation on the socio-economic and livelihoods of the local
residents and environmental conditions. Meanwhile rubber investment is
recognized as the key economic opportunity, thus how can government
authorities and local farmers minimize risks and maximize this opportunity.
However, the study intends to figure out the following specific research
questions:
1. If and how does rubber plantation reduce rural poverty? How do

smallholders meet their food and income needs during the non-productive
period of rubber planting?
2. What is the impact of rubber plantation on land ownership? How does rubber
plantation become a barrier of poor households to access and utilize the
natural forest product resources?
3. What is the impact of rubber plantation on natural forest resources?
1.4 Scope of the study and study area
The direction of study is to understand the positive and negative contribution
of rubber investment on local livelihood and natural resources. The research
especially compares their income generated by rubber production before and after
the land concession as well as agrarian land use change and natural resource

5
accessibility and depletion in Northern of Laos. The study evaluated and compare
the potential contribution of land conversion into larger rubber areas and cash crop
production and initiative maintenance of the natural resources in the studied area.
Therefore, the cost-benefit analysis will be used in this research. In order to make it
sound scientific, the below figure shows the framework of the study. First, it will
be at the national level which focuses on the government policies and strategies on
land development and foreign direct investment as well as the government
mechanism minimizing its adversely impacts, specifically in Northern part of Lao
PDR. This aim is to review the policy on turning land into capital. Secondly,
provincial, community and household level will be targeted to investigate external
factors on agri-business and land lease including the assessment of impact of
agrarian land use change on rural people’s economic and livelihoods and cultural
transition in study areas. The study conducted between 2009 and 2011.
The site of the study was deliberately select as a case study of the present
thesis. In Laos, rubber plantation has been rapidly expanded especially in the
Northern part since the pass decades. This has been because of a higher demand of
Chinese for rubber production couple with the promotion of foreign investment of

the Local authorities who have welcomed Chinese investors to investment in the
business of their interests especially in rubber plantation. Today, the figure shows
that rubber plantation areas in the North reach 58% of total rubber plantation in
Laos and continue expansion of this plantation is expected (NAFRI 2007). Much of
these plantations are concentrated in Sing District of LuanNnamTha Province.
For this reason, Sing districted was selected for not only a large investment
on rubber plantation taking place but also easy access to the site. Sing is located in
the north-western side of LuangNamTha Province, sharing borders with
Xishuangbanna, China, to the northeast, Myanmar to the north and northwest,
Muang Long district on the west and LuangNamTha district to the south. The
political and administrative centre of the district is Muang Sing, a small town made
up of a cluster of several villages. According to the population census conducted in
May 2005, the district has a total population of 30,548 distributed in 96 villages.

6
However, only three the most involved and affected villages were selected as
samples in consultation with the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office. This
includes Had Nyao, Dong Jai and Oudomsin villages as highlighted in the red circle
on upper left of Figure 1.

Figure 1.1: Map of Sing District
Source: GTZ 2008
1.5 Research Methodology
A number of different methods used in impact evaluation theory. This include
randomized evaluations, matching methods (specifically propensity score
matching), double-difference methods, instrumental variable methods, regression
discontinuity design and pipeline methods, distribution impacts, structural and other
modeling approaches. Each method has its own assumptions about the natural of
potential selection bias. In fact, the assumptions are crucial to develop an
appropriate model to determine program impact.

7
The present study uses Randomized evaluation. This method is considered as
the most rigorous method for impact evaluation. It requires the fewest assumptions
but can simply draw conclusions from the results. In addition it can reduce work
load and cost as the work by randomizing can ensure equivalent groups at the
beginning. This can reduce the amount of statistical work synthesizing an
equivalent comparison group later on in the analysis phase.
1.5.1 Research model
Figure 1.2: Conceptual framework of the research study
Impacts of Rubber Plantation

Poverty Reduction
- GDP
- Income
- Pre and post Economic
status of farmers
Land Ownership
- Land ownership
transferring
- Villager lost land
- Land use conflicts
Natural Forest Resource
- Forest cover
- Rice production area
- Biodiversity and
ecosystem
Rubber Plantation
- Investment size:
area, fund

- Types of
investment:
investors
- Types of ownership
- Place of investment
- Period of
Investment

Factors
Determining
Rubber
Plantation
Development

Market
demand
Natural
condition
Investment
promotion
policy
Village
motivation

8
The present study consists of three main research components as shown in
Figure 2. First, it attempts to understand factors determining rubber plantation
development. These include forces of market demand, suitability of the land for
plantation, institutional arrangement for promotion of investment and motivation of
the local in rubber 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 the impacts on poverty reduction by assessing the
changes in GDP, income and economic status of rubber plantation farmers. Impact
on land ownership will be investigated especially those related to the conflicts over
land use, lost of ownership right on land of the local and ownership transferring.
Impact on natural forest resource will also be investigated especially those related to
the forest cover, rice production area biodiversity and ecosystem.
1.5.2 Data Collection Method
The data that form the basis of the present study were obtained from
collection of secondary and primary data.
Secondary data collection:
Secondary data was collected through a desk review to obtain data required
for the first research component presented above. This review was carried out to
collect government regulations and 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 and Cooperation, and
Natural Resource and Environment. In addition, research results of others and

9
experiences of other countries related to rubber plantation were also collected via
electronic search and through personal contacts with researchers.
Primary data collection:
Collection of primary data was carried out through semi-structure and in-
depth interview approach to particularly obtain the data that support the above

second and third research components.
Semi-structure interview were mainly used with decision makers and rubber
planters in component 1. First, the Lao government at national, provincial and
district line agencies were interviewed and discussed to obtain the government
policies, lesson leant, minimizing obstacle mechanism and future expectation and
other related studies. These include the Provincial Department of Planning and
Investment (DPI) and their counterparts at the district level, the Rubber Unit of the
Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO), District Agriculture, Forestry
and Extension Offices (DAFEO), and the Provincial Customs Office.
In-dept interview were mainly conducted with the local villagers. This type
of interview is used when the informant’s account is being sought and is highly
valued (Minichiello et al., 1995). Patton (1990) spell out that entering into the
participant’s perspective during an interview, allows access to experiences of social
reality that cannot be directly observed. Moreover, Seale (1999) explains that
interviewees can act as the eyes and ears of researchers and able to recall and
summarize a wide rang of observations in seconds which could otherwise take
months of work to achieve.
Patton (1990) also emphasizes that In-depth interviews are particularly used
when the presence of an observer is precluded by the situation (such as attempting
to observe the private actions of an individual). As the present study is attempting to
understand subjective experiences from the development of plantation, in-depth
interview allow a glimpse into the perception of the stakeholders who are involving
in this type of investment. Also given both resource and time constrains of the

10

present study, the choice of in-depth interviews was an appropriate method to
comprehend the actual effect of effect of rubber plantation on land use system and
their livelihood.
As further described by Minichiello et al (1995), in-dept interviews are

characterized by a conversation-style discussion with a specific purpose. They also
further emphasis that this particular form of interview is distinguished for that the
conversion focuses on the participant’s ‘perspective of self, life and experience and is
expressed in his or her own words’. Patton (1990) spells out that unlike the structure
interview where participants must fit their experiences an feeling into the researcher’s
categories even if perceived as irrelevant, the in-depth interview allows for great
flexibility to capture the experience of each participant, in, an on their own term.
To keep the conversation focused on the research, a list of discussed topics is
developed and used to guide the discussion. The reason for using this list was to
‘jog the memory of the interviewer’ about all the issues to be covered; it therefore
ensured that common topics were covered with each participant. Topics to be
covered in the guide question did not require exact wording or a fixed order of
questions. Instead, the wording and sequence of questions were adapted to meet the
specific context of each actual interview. Accordingly, participants were able to
emphasize particular issues and to initiate topics that were not covered in the list.
During the interview, if queries arose regarding the meaning of a comment, or if a
new angle of inquiry evolved, the researcher would seek clarification or new
understandings from participants at the time.
The list of discussed topics was developed to address the research questions
that were posted in previous section. The topics include:
1. Their social condition such as migration, education, and family relationship.
2. Their livelihood in relation to their economic activities both off farm and on
farm activities.
3. History of rubber plantation in the local and the local capacity, willingness
and readiness to be involved in this development.

11

4. Their actual involvement in rubber plantation development.
5. If the investment improve their livelihood and how do they meet their food

and income needs during the non-productive period of rubber planting.
6. If the spread of this development change their land use pattern and system.
7. Their perception on rubber plantation in the context of land use management.
If and how rubber influence the sustainability of local natural resources
1.5.3 Data Collection Process
As mentioned in the pass section, interviewees in the present study include
those in the central, provincial, district and village levels. Accessing to each of them
had different requirement, through different steps.
Step 1: Meeting interviewers at the central level. This 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 General of the Land
Development Department of the National Land Management Authority was
interviewed to understand the land policy in the context of investment on land for
agribusiness. Director General of department of investment of the Ministry of
Investment and Cooperation was met to comprehend the investment procedure and
requirement. Accessing to each mentioned person required an official letter from the
Faculty of Forestry of the National University of Laos where the researcher engaged.
Step 2: Meeting interviewers at the provincial level. The heads of the
provincial department offices of Agriculture & Forestry, Land, Investment and
Cooperation in LuangNamTha were interviewed to hear their policy and actual
context in relation to the plantation business in their province. Similar to Step 1, an
official letter from the Faculty of Forestry was required for each of them.

12

Step 3: Meeting Sing district officers. At this level only Sing district office of
Agriculture and Forestry was visited. This was because there were no land and

investment office at the district level. Approaching this office required a letter of
permission from the LuangNamTha office of Agriculture and Forestry. At Sing
office, the context of rubber investment was obtained and selection of villages to be
further visit and do research was made with consultation and guidance from the
district officers. In addition, two rubber plantation investors were also visited under
the guidance of a district officer.
Step 4: Meeting villagers at Had Nyao, Dong Jai and Oudomsin villages.
Accessing to the villages required to have an official letter from the District office
of Agriculture and Forestry. In addition, a district was required to accompany the
researcher, assisting connect to each village head and villagers. At this level,
meetings with village committees were organization to hearing their reflection on
the business of rubber plantation. Selection of individuals to be interviewed was
made at this stage under a close consultation with village heads. Individuals may
include those directly and indirectly related to rubber plantation and those are
household heads. In each village, interviews were made with half of the total
population of the well-off, middle and poor.
1.5.4 Data profile
Interviews were conducted between October 2010 and April 2011. Eligibility
criteria were set to ensure obtaining the best and correct data from the right
interviewees. As can be seen in Table 1 most if not all participants at each level are
decision makers. Detail criteria and number of participants are described in Table 1.
Participant from the district level was few. This is because district unit is the level
of implementation under the guidance of provincial office. For this reason, only
District Office of Agriculture and Forestry is directly involved and able to provide
data and information related to rubber plantation business.

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Table 1.1: Participant criteria

No Participant
background
Criteria No, of
participants
1 At central level Director General of a department 6
2 At provincial level Head of provincial department or division
related to the field in questions
4
3 At district level Head of the district office related to the
field in questions
1
4 At village level Village head, Village committee, villagers
directly and indirectly involved in rubber
plantation.
122
Sources: field data collection 2010
In the course of actual data collection phase, the number of interviewees at
the village level was not met the numbers as set in the research plan. The plan
specified that number of interviewees should be not less than 50% of the total
households as to ensure receiving scientific data. As shown in Table 2, the
researcher could access to the head of the households in each village only less than
50%. Especially, at Dong Chai village only 34% of household heads were
interviewed. This was because during the dry seasons many of them leave the
villages for off farm job in town.
Table 1.2: Number of interviewees in each studied village
No Village Name Total households No of interviewees Percentage (%)

1 Hard Yao 123 52 42
2 Dong Chai 138 47 34
3 Oudomsin 51 23 45

Sources: field data collection 2010

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It was however, the distribution of interviewee’s in terms of economic status
seemed to satisfy the research requirement. As shown in Table 3 the researcher got
fewer well off and poor interviewees than the middle. This was because the middles
were dominant in each village. This distribution ensured obtaining data that reflect
the real situation of the local.
Table 1.3: Number of interviewees in each studied village by economic status
No Village No of interview Well off Middle Poor
1 Hard Yao 52 14 28 10
2 Dong Chai 47 7 32 8
3 Oudomsin 23 4 16 3
Sources: field data collection 2010
Ranking villagers’ economic status was solely based on villagers’ perspective.
Villagers rank their wealth based on various indicators such as: number of buffalo
and cattle, paddy area size, house condition and other property, as well as
remittances from their family members abroad. The table below shows the Hardyao
poverty data.
Indicators
Household classes
Rich Middle Poor
Buffalo and Cattle Over 10 2-9 0-1
Paddy area
Over 1 ha or
have enough rice
though the year
0.3-1 ha, or rice
deficit not over 2

months/year
None or less than
0.3 ha. Rice deficit
over 2 month
House condition and
other Utility
Permanent house Can be permanent
or temporary
Temporary
Receive remittance Not counted Yes No
Total household: 231 14 28 10

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Source: Village statistic available at village chief house of Hardyao village, 20
10
1.5.5 Data processing
Interview with 6 informants at the central level, 4 at the provincial level, 1 at
the district level and 120 of villagers formed the core of the data. These were
compiled and synthesized along with field note. An annalistic induction method
(Minichiello et al., 1995) was used to seek recurring themes from across different
accounts to generate a broader theoretical understanding derived from the specific
data. Inductive analysis involved linking the individual account to gain a broader
perspective of how the experience of rubber plantation developed in their territory
within the context of livelihood and land use. An ordinary excel computer program
was used to compile and analyze the data.
1.6 Research Contribution
This research analyzes impacts of rubber plantation on poverty reduction,
land ownership and natural forest resource in northern, Lao PDR. It has four main
contributions reflecting the writer’s opinion, as illustrated as follow:

First, the research provides the better understanding on positive and 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 second important aspect of the research relates to its contribution to the
theoretical and practical analysis frameworks. It layouts a clear frame that covers
four areas of interests: political, social, economic and environmental aspects. It
systematically incorporates semi-structure and in-dept interviews, and observation
to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data. This theoretical method may not
suit to apply in a sort term related study but it can be a good foundation for those

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Laotian master and doctoral students who pursue to conduct the study in relation to
natural resource management.
The third significant aspect of this research project relates to the country
studied. Most studies of rubber plantation expansion impacts have either been
conducted in many tropical countries. In Asian countries, similar studies have been
conducted mostly in Thailand, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. To the author’s
knowledge, very little research at the doctoral study level has been conducted in
Laos where has totally different in term of social, political, economic, and bio-
physical contexts. The results of the present study would show some how different
from those in other countries.
Last but not least, this research provides some suggestions and
recommendations that will greatly contributes to the government policy
development in order to not only avoid negative impacts of rubber plantation on
poverty reduction and land ownership but also to sustainably obtain the optimal
benefits from the development of rubber plantation in the Lao context.

1.7 Research Limitation
It is important to understand the results in this research study by looking at
the certain limitations. These limitations would be useful for future research under
the same theme.
The first limitation of this study is trying to understand the general market
process. This study has been present only local perspective on rubber market.
The research much more apply the theoretical analysis rather than practical
implications, therefore, this conclusion shows more the view of the previous
research writers. This can also be seen as a limiting factor in this study.