Merina Lohani Sitoula M.Sc. Natural Resources Management Asian Institute of Technology August 2008

1. An Assessment of Foreign Land Acquisition Processes in Four GMS countries: Case Studies of Impacts on Livelihoods in Cambodia and Lao PDR FINAL DEFENSE MAY 17, 2010 Merina Lohani Sitoula M.Sc. Natural Resources Management Asian Institute of Technology August 2008

2. OBJECTIVES Literature review KII • To document land acquisition modalities and procedures, database and guiding laws/policies by foreign companies for large scale plantations of agri-business commodities in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao PDR; • To assess the socio-economic impacts of large scale agri-business plantations on the livelihoods of the local people in Laos and Cambodia on case study basis; and - To assess the status of capital asset; and - To identify the direct and indirect impacts of plantations on the livelihood of the local people/community. • To recommend strategies, based on the findings, which may overcome the gaps to supplement the processes of rural development. Household survey

3. SITE MAP OF LAOS Henankouanin Company Ltd. (Chinese) 3,780 ha for cassava

4. SITE MAP OF CAMBODIA PhuRieng Company Ltd. (Vietnam)-4906 ha Dong Nai Company Ltd. (Vietnam)- 1082 ha

5. LAND ACQUISITION PROCEDURES IN THE FOUR GMS COUNTRIES

6. Constraining factors Facilitating factors SOME KEY DIFFERENCES IN THE LAWS/POLICIES

7. STATUS OF CAPITAL ASSETS

8. NATURAL CAPITAL

9. FOOD SUFFICIENCY HHs having food not sufficient for whole year Snoul: 75.9% Sambor: 68.4% Phalanxay: 48.3%

10. FINANCIAL CAPITAL Occupation Average annual income from NTFP collection US$ 300

11. FINANCIAL CAPITAL CONTD… Expense on food: 52.8% in Snoul; 54.9% in Sambor and 68% in Phalanxay is spent on food.

12. HUMAN CAPITAL Health Status: 44.8% hhs in Snoul and 57.9% hhs in Sambor do not have good health condition. Majority in Phalanxay have fair health. Trainings and Skills: Large majority in Snoul and Sambor are untrained and unskilled. Phalanxay has 44.8% hhs with trained members in various community development fields.

13. HUMAN CAPITAL CONTD…

14. PHYSICAL CAPITAL

15. IMPACTS ON LIVELIHOOD • Land grabbing: 3 hhs each in Snoul and Sambor and 6 hhs in Phalanxay claimed their land ( 0.5-5 ha)taken by the Companies. Of these only 1 hh in Snoul and 1hh in Phalanxay were compensated. • Private enterprises like making coal, wood trade based on the forest resources at risk due to loss of forest. • 22% in Sambor and 3% in Phalanxay even faced decrease in income. • Livestock rearing suffering due to loss of grazing land. • Risk in rearing livestock due to fear of compensation if cattle enter plantation area and destroy crops.

16. IMPACTS ON LIVELIHOOD Contd…. • Fear of losing cattle, which are hurt/killed by company guards. • Lack of trust was observed among the laborers and the Company and there is no feeling of ownership among the workers as they feel exploited. People doubt the Company’s intention in Phalanxay. • Local employment not promising and existing recruitment of Cambodians decreasing with increase in Vietnamese labor import. • Loss of local forest and biodiversity.

17. IMPACT ON NTFP COLLECTION

18. PERCEPTIONS ON BENEFITS AND SATISFACTION

19. CAPITAL INDICES

20. POLICY INTO ACTION: IMPLEMENTATION GAPS AND IMPACTS • Overlapping policy and lack of coordination between horizontal and vertical levels of line agencies. • Lack of transparency. • Inadequate monitoring and supervision. • Lack of strict enforcement of rules and regulations. • Inadequate information dissemination and public consultation. • Violation of traditional rights and non-consideration for community livelihood.

21. CONCLUSION • Weak implementation and enforcement of existing laws/regulations. • Transparency of database and information are lacking. • Only sporadic employment generation at local level as most of the laborers are imported from other villages/provinces. • Measurable negative impacts like land acquisition without compensation to the farmers, loss of biodiversity and NTFPs, impacts on livestock rearing. • Depleting quality and quantity of NTFPs have direct negative impact both on financial capital and food security. • Need to learn lessons from the history of Thai forestry regarding the involvement of community. Laos has been promoting contract farming. • No evidences of programs focused towards human resource development in Cambodia. • Status of concession and its impacts are more or less similar in Cambodia and Laos in many respects, in Laos however things seems to be getting somewhat better in terms of institutional arrangements, laws/policies and governance.

22. RECOMMENDATIONS For Public Authorities: • Establish process monitoring system • Need of a single governing body for ELCs for Cambodia. • Strict prescription of labor % age by Cambodian law. • Credit facilitation and capacity building programs for alternative livelihood options. • Peoples’ participation in all stages of planning, implementing and decision-making. • Dissemination of clear and updated information to the community. • Good health and education facilities for nurturing capable human resources. • Integration of rural development with natural resources management.

23. SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH • A study based on surveys of the plantation workers may be undertaken to assess the actual benefits of the plantation versus the objectives of the governments. • SWOT analysis of the laws/policies across the GMS countries. • Plantations induced land use change and impacts on the environment, soil and water.

24. !!! KHAWP JAI !!! !!! AW KUNH!!! !!! THANK YOU !!! !!! KHOB-KHUN!!! !!! CÁM ƠN !!!