Xiengkhor district is one of the 47 poorest districts in Lao PDR. Since 2005, maize has spread in
the district pushed by government policies and investment in infrastructures and pulled by the
growing Vietnamese market. Maize expansion illustrates the major shift from rice-based subsistence
agriculture to commercial agriculture, leading to increased farmers’ income and reduced poverty.
However, current maize-based production systems are not sustainable, neither ecologically nor
economically.
From January to July 2009, we conducted a survey on the changes in landscapes and livelihood
systems triggered by maize expansion in 5 villages of Xiengkhor districts in Huaphan province. We
interviewed 100 households and conducted more than 30 focus group meetings in the 5 target
villages of a development project supported by OXFAM Hong Kong.
The study showed that household differentiation is primarily determined by their access to
individual and/or common paddies. Villagers manage lowland area collectively through a Na Muong
system that is traditionally found in Tai villages in mountain mainland Southeast Asia. Every 5 years,
paddies are shared among households according to the size of the family. So far, this Na Muong
system has buffered the process of economic differentiation.
On the slopes, maize was adopted by all households, independently of their economic status. The
landscapes mosaics have homogenize as maize replaced upland rice shifting cultivation system at the
bottom of the hill sides and then progressed upwards towards the hill tops. Farmers have invested
collectively in “maize roads” through credits provided by Vietnamese traders. They could improve
their return on labor and could further expand their maize cultivation areas. Economic analyzes
showed that the rapid expansion of agricultural land devoted to maize was the main source of
income increases. The absence of fallow or fertilization in permanent maize cropping system
gradually leads to land degradation (fertility loss and soil erosion) and to yield decline. Farmers are
conscious on this downward trend but did not find any alternative so far, as the system is still
profitable.
Maize spread had also a tremendous impact on the local communities, widening farmer’s
differentiation and changing social networks in favor of powerful middlemen and traders. The
widespread use of credit for consumption or production and the high variations in commodity prices
have changed their economic environment. Farmers adapted their collective rules and negotiated
trade arrangements with new stakeholders. New local institutions are emerging. How local farmers
cope with these changes will determine to a large extent the future of these complex landscapes and
livelihood systems. We explored different scenarios with local stakeholders that aimed to provide
guidance to development projects in the target area and more generally in other regions of Laos that
are undergoing these rapid changes in relation with maize expansion.