ASIST-Asia Pacific a programme for optimising sustainable employment in the construction and infrastructure sectors
Houshold Survey Report of five selected Sekong Villages
Internet Version 1
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...... 2 1.1 Background ...... 2 1.1.1 Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) ...... 2 1.1.2 IRAP in Sekong province ...... 2 1.1.3 Sekong Indigenous People’s Development Program (SIP-Dev)...... 3 1.1.4 Base-line village level survey ...... 3 1.1.5 Selection of pilot villages ...... 3 1.2 In-depth household survey...... 4 1.1.1 Objectives...... 4 1.1.2 Survey tools...... 5 1.3 Sekong Province ...... 6 1.1.3 Dakchung District...... 7 1.1.4 Kalum District ...... 7 1.4 Sample representativeness...... 8 1.1.5 Households representativeness of the village situation...... 8 1.1.6 Village representativeness of the district situation ...... 8 Socio-economic Characteristics ...... 10 2.1 General characteristics ...... 10 2.1.1 Sample household composition...... 10 2.1.2 Settlement and migration...... 13 2.1.3 Spoken dialects...... 15 2.1.4 Household belongings...... 16 2.2 Education ...... 17 2.3 Water ...... 21 2.4 Health...... 23 2.5 Agriculture ...... 27 2.5.1 Main crops produced...... 27 2.5.2 Main crops sold or bartered ...... 28 2.5.3 Food consumption and rice self-sufficiency...... 29 2.5.4 Upland rice cultivation (Rai) ...... 32 2.5.5 Lowland rice cultivation (Naa) ...... 34 2.5.6 Cassava ...... 36 2.5.7 Maize ...... 37 2.5.8 Busiest cultivation period ...... 38 2.5.9 Help from others...... 39 2.5.10 Livestock...... 40 2.6 Activities ...... 44 2.6.1 Main sources of cash income...... 44 2.6.2 Main non farm activities...... 46 2.6.3 Non farm produces sold or bartered ...... 47 2.7 Consumption ...... 49 2.7.1 Basic product consumption...... 49 2.7.2 Medicine consumption ...... 50 2.8 Expenditures...... 50 2.9 Market...... 52 2.10 Household problems ...... 53 2.11 Households’ perception of their situation...... 55 Transport pattern ...... 58 3.1 Firewood ...... 60 3.2 Building materials...... 62 3.3 Water ...... 63 3.4 Upland rice transport (Rai) ...... 64 3.5 Lowland rice transport (Naa) ...... 65 3.6 First and second main crops other than rice transport...... 66 3.7 Transport pattern per annum...... 67 3.7.1 Number of trips per annum...... 69 3.7.2 Time per annum...... 70 3.7.3 Distance per annum...... 70 3.7.4 Tonnes per annum...... 72 3.7.5 Tonne.kilometre per annum...... 73 3.7.6 Overview Histogram ...... 74 Daily and seasonal activities...... 76 Gender …….....……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…78
Page 1 e 1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.1.1. Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP)
The project document of project “LAO/95/001 Access Planning and Infrastructure for Basic Needs” was approved by the Lao Government on 26 June 1995 and project activities started late July 1995. The project is executed by the Lao P.D.R. Government with technical assistance from the ILO. The project is ultimately concerned with poverty alleviation in rural areas through improved access to basic goods and services to improve rural communities’ access to basic, social and economic goods services to improve living conditions in rural areas. The immediate objective of the project is to develop the capacity in Lao P.D.R. to plan for improved access in rural areas.
At the national level the project works very closely with its host the MCTPC. The project will seek to establish links with other ministries and institutions engaged in rural development including the ministries of agriculture, health and education, the national planning committee (SPC) and the donor community.
At the provincial level the project works with the provincial offices of DPC, responsible for the overall planning, and the DCTPCs, responsible for infrastructure development and the RDCs responsible for rural development in selected focal zones for rural development.
The project also attempts to improve planning procedures at the district level. For this purpose, the project works in close cooperation with the District Governors and their planning and development staff.
The Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) process evolved from an understanding of the access requirements of rural households. It is a simple and easily applied tool developed to identify and prioritize infrastructure projects at local levels.
IRAP consists of the following elements: 1. An assessment of access problems in an area concerned. 2. An identification of the interventions either in the road system or in the location of services (water, health, education, markets). 3. Selection and prioritization for needed interventions. 4. Identification of the suitable types of interventions. 5. Guidelines on the costing of the interventions.
1.1.2. IRAP in Sekong province
The Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning Project (IRAP LAO/95/001) started in Sekong in early 1997. The project began to train enumerators in the district of Lamam and Thateng and collected data on accessibility to basic needs at the Village Level. Since then other training sessions have been conducted on the prioritisation process and on project proposal writing for suitable type of interventions in the priority villages. During the 1998 dry season, it was scheduled to conduct the same types of activities in the two eastern districts: Kalum and Dakchung.
Page 2 e 1.1.3. Sekong Indigenous People’s Development Program (SIP-Dev)
As a starting phase, the Sekong indigenous People’s Development program has set up its institutional structure and has launched small scale activities early 1999, being funded by the capacity 21 program for the Lao PDR, as its second component. The project document of project “LAO/98/G82/A/5G/NEX Sekong Provincial Development Program” was approved by the Lao Government on 20 January 1999. The project is executed by the Lao P.D.R. Government with technical assistance from the UNDP. The development objective of the project is to enable the ethnic minorities of the remote upland areas, namely Dakchung and Kalum districts, to improve their living conditions in their traditional environment. The project is mainly contributing to the village development survey and planning process as well as related capacity building activities in the province.
1.1.4. Base-line village level survey
Early 1998, IRAP Sekong was requested to extend on their current questionnaire and conduct a more detailed village survey in Kalum and Dakchung Districts in connection with the forthcoming Sekong Indigenous People’s Development Program (SIP-Dev). That base line survey covered all the villages, and allowed a wide range of socio-economic data to be collected, mapped the pedestrian communication routes, the ethnical geography, key facilities... It permitted to compare villages, and gave a better understanding of the over-all situation in the Sekong upland districts.
1.1.5. Selection of pilot villages
Early 1999 , the results of the baseline survey analysis, combined with the results of other surveys (Lao Census 95, UXO), constituted the base to organise a workshop with the districts, the province, the Sekong Indigenous People’s Development Steering Committee and management team, IRAP and UNDP to select pilot villages to initiate development activities.The development of a prioritisation tool has facilitated the identification of 5 pilot villages in Dakchung and Kalum, considering three criteria:
1. The pilot villages should be accessible within one day from the district centre.
2. The pilot villages should be among the poorest.
3. All five pilot villages should picture the local ethnic diversity.
The first phase of the Sekong Indigenous People Development Program , with capacity 21 funds, can be considered as a pilot phase with the intention to pilot-test the approaches introduced and build local capacity to replicate the activities in other villages on a larger scale as a second phase.
Page 3 e Participatory meetings have been organised in all pilot villages1 in order to grasp the villagers’ priorities, which were activities or fields of activities that the villagers considered having priority to be developed and supported, in order to improve their living conditions. Then, according to the first villages’ response to the first activity and according to the potential for project implementation, three pilot villages out of the five have been selected in each district for conducting an in-depth household survey and technical data collection. The latter activities were conducted in May 1999 in the pilot villages of both districts Kalum and Dakchung.
Because of rainy season constraints, only two villages have been reached in Kalum district. The results of the in-depth household survey presented in this report cover the following villages:
Dakchung District: Kalum District:
1.Tangpeuang village 1.Deang village
2.Dak Tring village 2.Pakxai village
3.Dak Pam village
1.2 IN-DEPTH HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
1.2.1 Objectives
Within each pilot village a cross-section of six families was selected randomly for detailed studies in order to:
¨ Collect a wide range of data to better understand the socio-economic situation of the ethnic minorities in the areas of households’ capacities and vulnerabilities, food security, coping strategies, problems and aspirations.
¨ Evaluate the gender distribution of roles and responsibilities of households’ daily and seasonal tasks.
¨ Inventory households’ farm and non-farm activities throughout the year, and establish related timetables for project schedule and planning purposes.
¨ Determine the transport characteristics of travel to different places, and for different purposes, in order to examine travel pattern of up-land district households.
¨ Assess the village situation before launching the Sekong Indigenous People’s development program village activities for future impact monitoring purposes.
1 Tangkhad village in Kalum district and Tanglou village in Dakchung district have not been visited for accessibility reasons. Page 4 e 1.2.2 Survey tools
The detailed household-level studies consisted of seven elements: a. Household questionnaire interviews b. Water transport survey c. Firewood transport survey d. Mobility Mappings e. Seasonal activity calendar interviews f. Food consumption survey g. Daily activity diary interviews a. Household questionnaire: district in March 1999. The Among all the survey tools used, team of enumerators was the questionnaire is the most composed of SIP Dev district important. It has been specially project managers and district designed to suit the objective volunteers, of SIP Dev and purpose of the in depth provincial management team survey and to be adequate to and of IRAP staff that have Sekong up land context. been trained in Sekong Initially, the development of the provincial center, before field questionnaire sought comments data collection. Questionnaires and advises from other United in Laotian language have Nations agencies, ORSTOM, been utilized, although a National Statistic Center and majority of the enumerators , NGOs working in Sekong as native of Dakchung and province, and special attention Kalum districts, most often has been paid to ensuring interviewed the villagers complementarity with IRAP directly in their local dialects 1998 base line survey. It has to foster the communication been field tested in Dakchung and understanding. b. Water and Firewood transport: It was difficult for people to estimate weights of water and firewood carried. A preliminary water and firewood survey was conducted to evaluate averages of water and firewood loads carried by children, adult males and adult females. Those results have been utilised to estimate the travel pattern and transport characteristics of the households. c. Mobility Maps: In each pilot village, participatory meetings have been conducted in order to ask the villagers about their day-to-day activity movements in and around the village and travel habits, main destinations outside, frequencies and travel times2. All those data have been recorded on maps, enabling us to locate essential facilities, routes and neighbouring villages. Frequencies and distances have been utilised to estimate the travel pattern and transport characteristics of the households.
2 People find it difficult to estimate distances. We therefore asked “how long to get there” since time is easier to estimate. This time was then converted to distance of travel, considering an average speed on foot of 4km/h. Page 5 e d. Seasonal calendar of activities: It is essential to understand the diversity, scope and magnitude of villagers’ farm and non-farm activities in order to adjust the project schedule and planning to the availability of the villagers. One calendar was filled in per family and gender participation in each activity was sought. d. Food consumption calendar: It was not among the in-depth household survey objectives and would have required more than the available time and means to conduct a detailed nutritional food consumption survey, allowing the calculation of average calories absorbed per day by people. The purpose of this food consumption calendar was more to picture the food diversity and seasonal availability, and to establish food consumption tendencies and frequencies. e. Daily diary of activities: In order to understand the gender distribution of roles and responsibilities within the family cell, it was considered to follow husbands and wives over a day period from the moment they get up until they go to bed. For feasibility reasons and local constraints, it was decided not to do so, but instead, to ask husbands and wives separately to list and describe the activities they carried out the day before the household interview. Therefore, those activities could not be considered as typical and standard activities, since they reflect what happened in the family during that particular day. However, the well- ordered rural lives of the villagers tend to permit some reasonable extrapolation from the results, at least for the same period, within geographical proximity.
1.3 SEKONG PROVINCE
Sekong is one of the 16 provinces that, together with the Prefecture of Vientiane and the Special Zone of Xaisomboun, constitute the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao P.D.R.). The province has a total land area of 7,665 square kilometres3. The province is bordered by Champasack province to the west, Saravan province to the north, Attapeu province to the south and Vietnam to the east. Sekong is one of the poorest provinces in the country. About 60% of its area is mountainous, 35% is plateau and 5% is made of lowland plains. There are 16 different ethnic groups in the province living in 256 villages; 96% belong to the Lao Theung and 4% to the Lao Loum. The mountainous eastern part of the province is the most underdeveloped with some areas severely affected by the bombings of the war on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Sekong is known for its wildlife and forest diversity: tigers are still roaming the jungle while dolphins are occasionally seen in the Sekong river4. The province is inhabited by 65,011 people5 giving a population density of about 8.5 people per square kilometer. The households are divided over 256 villages in 4 districts: Lamam, Thateng, Dakchung and Kalum.
The province has two distinct climates, a pronounced wet season from June to November and a dry season from December to May.
The province is accessible by road from Saravan and Pakse. Road connection are poor but are presently upgraded with ADB funding. Sekong is not accessible by air. It is also possible to travel from Sekong to Attapeu by river or road.
The indigenous communities of Dakchung and Kalum are subsistence farmers with shifting cultivation, livestock and foraging as their main source of livelihood. They live in isolation from socio-economic development and suffer from very limited to no access to most services like health and education. They experience problems of food security on occasions.
3 Source: Focus Sekong Province - UNDP 1997 4 Source: Focus Sekong Province - UNDP 1997 5 Source: IRAP survey 1997/1998 Page 6 e In addition, Sekong – particularly Kalum and Dakchung – was one of the most affected provinces by the Vietnam/American war. Intensive bombing and use of defoliants have left many wounds in the physical and cultural landscape6
Map 1 : Sekong districts
0km 10 20 30 40 50
1.3.1 Dakchung District
Dakchung district (see map1) comprises 6 sub-districts or zones. Dakchung is the second largest district in terms of size and the third in terms of population. The topography is mainly mountainous.
The IRAP 1998 survey suggests a district population of 17165. The total land area is estimated at 2357 sq. km. giving a population density slightly more than 7 people per sq. km. The district is comprised of 104 villages.
1.3.2 Kalum District
Kalum district (see map1) comprises 8 sub-districts or zones. Kalum is the largest district in terms of size and the smallest in terms of population. The topography is mountainous. The IRAP 1998 survey suggests a district population of 9,038. The total land area is estimated at 3,319 sq. km. giving a population density of less than 3 people per sq. km. The district is comprised of 58 villages.
6 Sekong Indigenous Peoples’ Development Project (Draft Project Document) Page 7 e 1.4 Sample representativeness
1.4.1 Households representativeness of the village situation
It was agreed upon a sample size of six families per village, as it would give a fair representativeness of the whole village, that is the findings about the six interviewed households would satisfactorily picture the overall situation of all the households living in the village. Considering the population of the five pilot villages, the sample households represent 31% of the population on average. Table1 shows a minimum of 20% of the population interviewed in the biggest village, Dak Tring, and a maximum of 42% in the smallest villages: Pakxai and Deang. Furthermore, the interviews of six households per village remained within logistical capacity of the survey teams.
Table1: Sample size compared with village
Village Population sample percentage of population Percentage of families Main ethnic groups
DAKPAM 31 36% 30% Talieng DAKTRING 44 20% 13% Ye TANGPEUANG 35 29% 21% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 110 26% 19%
DEANG 40 42% 35% Katu PAKXAI 42 42% 32% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 82 42% 33%
Sample Total 192 31% 23%
1.4.2 Village representativeness of the district situation
Dakchung
There are 104 villages in Dakchung district, therefore our 3 pilot villages represent only 3% of the villages. In terms of accessibility to goods and services, the three pilot villages are rather better off than the average. The average travel time to reach the district centre from Dakchung villages is about 9 hours of walk. About 70% of the Dakchung population live within 1 day walk from the district centre. We need to be cautious in extrapolating the findings of the household survey to the whole district. However, we can expect similarities between villages having same ethnic characteristics and geographical proximity. The following information try to picture the 3 pilot villages within their local context.
¨ Dak Tring is located in the south-eastern part of Dakchung district, in the Tatu zone (zone 5) about 4 hours far from the district centre. The main ethnic group is YE, which represents about 30% of the whole district population7. 70% of the YE live further than one day walk from the district centre. Dak tring can be counted among the 36% of villages, which are accessible by car although the trail has noticeably deteriorated lately.
7 See also IRAP 1998 village survey Page 8 e ¨ Tangpeuang is located in the north-eastern part of Dakchung district, in the Ayoun zone (zone 2) about 12 hours far from the district centre. The main ethnic group is TALIOU, which represents about 9% of the whole district population8. 97% of the TALIOU live further than one day walk from the district centre. Tangpeuang can be counted among the 64% of villages, which are not accessible by car.
¨ Dak Pam is located in the center part of Dakchung district, in the Dakchung zone (zone 1) about 1hour 30 min far from the district centre. The main ethnic group is TALIENG, which represents the main ethnic group in Dakchung district, with about 55% of the whole district population9. 58% of the TALIENG live within half a day walk from the district centre. Dak Pam can be counted among the 36% of villages, which are accessible by car. Apart from a few people from the valleys (LAO LOUM), and one family, which belongs to the TAOY group, in Dak Doung village (Namde zone), only one ethnic group is not represented in the pilot villages, and thereby in the household survey findings: The DAKANG group, located in the western part of the district represents 7% of the whole population.
Kalum
There are 58 villages in Kalum district, therefore our 2 pilot villages represent only 3% of the villages. In terms of accessibility to goods and services, the two pilot villages are radically better off than the average. The average travel time to reach the district centre from Kalum villages is about 2 days of walk. Only 17% of the Kalum population live within 1/2 day walk from the district centre. The pilot villages are accessible by road when 95% of the Kalum villages are not, the altitude there is much lower, compared with the other villages located in harsher mountainous area. Furthermore, during the selection of the pilot villages, it was acknowledged that the poorest villages are likely to be located 2 or 3 days far from the district centre. In Kalum, we need to be particularly cautious in extrapolating the findings of the household survey to the whole district. As a matter of fact, the findings of the survey in Pakxai and Deang villages probably picture a socio-economic situation, which can be expected worse in the rest of the district. The following information try to picture the 2 pilot villages within their local context.
¨ Deang is located in the western part of Kalum district, in the Bak zone (zone 1) about 4 hours far from the district centre. The main ethnic group is KATU, which represents about 59% of the whole district population10. 88% of the KATU live further than two days walk from the district centre. Deang can be counted among the 5% of villages, which are accessible by car.
¨ Pakxai is located in the western part of Kalum district, in the Bak zone (zone 1) about 3 hours far from the district centre. The main ethnic groups are KATU (17 families), NGE (1 family) and TAOY (1 family). KATU represent about 59% of the whole district population, NGE about 30% and TAOY about 3%11. 72% of the NGE live within one day walk from the district centre, 56% of the TAOY further than two days walk. Pakxai can be counted among the 5% of villages, which are accessible by car. Apart from a few people from the valleys (LAO LOUM), 4 ethnic groups are not represented in the pilot villages, and thereby in the household survey findings: The CHATONG group, located in the eastern part of the district represents 6% of the whole population, the TALIENG group represents 1%, the PACOH group 0.5% and the ALAK 0.2%.
8 See also IRAP 1998 village survey 9 See also IRAP 1998 village survey 10 See also IRAP 1998 village survey 11 See also IRAP 1998 village survey
Page 9 e 2 Socio-economic Characteristics
The results of the survey presented in this report are agglomerated at village level, with sub-totals for the three pilot villages in Dakchung district and the two in Kalum district. In most of the tables, the reader will find below the names of the villages, the main ethnic groups living in the village, so as to enable the comparison of the figures with the ethnic pattern as well. Results of the interviews and calendars at household level are available in the database.
2.1 General characteristics
2.1.1 Sample household composition.
The following results present the population characteristics of the 30 sample households that were interviewed in the 5 pilot villages in May 1999. Table 2 shows the distribution of people per age groups. The group of young people between 6 and 14 years old constitutes the group of children in age of going to school. A total of 41 of them gives 21% of the sample population in age of going to school. The total of 12 children below 1 year old represents the number of babies born during the year before the interviews, which is 6% of the sample population.
Table 2 : Total number of people per age group
Number Of Number Of Number Number of Number of adult Sample Total Children Equal Children Children Village children (below (over 14 years Member Or Below 1 Between 1 And Between 6and Main ethnic groups 15 years old) old) Year Old 5 14
DAKPAM 31 2 2 9 13 18 Talieng DAKTRING 44 2 6 9 17 27 Ye TANGPEUANG 35 1 6 3 10 25 Taliou
DAKCHUNG Total 110 5 14 21 40 70 DEANG 40 4 6 10 20 20 Katu PAKXAI 42 3 4 10 17 25 Taoy / Katu / Nge
KALUM Total 82 7 10 20 37 45
Sample Total 192 12 24 41 77 115
Page10 e The table 3 shows average figures per household. The average household is composed of 6.4 people12. The number of households per house varies between 1 and 2 with few exceptions. In Dak Pam village, Dakchung district, one house sheltered 3 households and in Deang village, Kalum district, 4 households live in the same house. Moreover, the proportion Male/Female in the sample households seems slightly unbalanced in the favour of females with a 45/5513 ratio.
Table 3 : Average figures per household Average Average number of Average Average Average Average number of agriculture proportion proportion number of number of adult males adult Village children labour force males / adults / people per households in the females per Main ethnic groups below 14 per females children household per house household household years old household [17-60] 14 DAKPAM 5.2 1.3 1.3 1.7 2.2 2.5 45 / 55 58 / 42 Talieng DAKTRING 7.3 1.3 1.8 2.7 2.8 3.8 39 / 61 61 / 39 Ye TANGPEUANG 5.8 1.3 1.7 2.5 1.7 4 43 / 57 71 / 29 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 6.1 1.3 1.6 2.3 2.2 3.4 42 / 58 64 / 36
DEANG 6.7 1.5 1.3 2 3.3 2.8 55 / 45 50 / 50 Katu PAKXAI 7 1.7 1.8 2.3 2.8 3.7 45 / 55 60 / 40 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 6.8 1.6 1.6 2.2 3.1 3.2 50 / 50 55 / 45
Sample Total 6.4 1.4 1.6 2.2 2.6 3.3 45 / 55 60 / 40
Graph 1 shows the family size distribution. It is noticeable that the largest household comprises 11 people and that 30% of the households comprises 5 people.
Graph 1 : Household size distribution
More
11
10
9
8
7
Number of people per Household 6
5
4
3
2
1
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 More Percentage of the sample household per size 0% 0% 10% 3% 30% 13% 17% 7% 10% 3% 7% 0%
12 The National Census 95 reports 6.1 people per household on national average in rural areas. 13 The National Census 95 indicates a national Male/female ratio of 49.4/50.6 14 The agriculture labour force consists of the number of people who can actively take part into cultivation activities. We considered the people whose age is contained between 17 and 60 years old. Page11 e Table 4 and Graph 2 present the distribution of the sample population by gender and age groups. It is remarkable that 55% of the population is younger than 20 years old. In the 60-90 age group, the graph 2 shows that there are twice as many women alive as men in the sample household.
Table 4 : Age classes Graph 2:Distribution of the population per age Age classes Male Female % Male % female
60% [0-5] 17 19 47% 53% ]5-10] 13 11 54% 46% 50% ]10-15] 9 12 43% 57% ]15-20] 8 16 33% 67%
]20-25] 7 7 50% 50% 40% ]25-30] 8 11 42% 58% ]30-35] 6 4 60% 40% ]35-40] 3 4 43% 57% 30% ]40-45] 3 5 38% 63% ]45-50] 6 3 67% 33% 20% ]50-55] 3 0 100% 0% ]55-60] 1 6 14% 86% ]60-65] 0 0 0% 0% 10% ]65-70] 1 1 50% 50% ]70-75] 2 1 67% 33% 0% ]75-80] 0 3 0% 100% ]0-20] ]20-40] ]40-60] ]60-90] ]80-85] 0 0 0% 0% % Male 54% 28% 15% 3% % Female 56% 25% 13% 6% ]85-90] 0 1 0% 100% Total 87 104 46% 54%
All the heads of households but one are male. It gives 3% of female household heads15 in the sample households. Besides, 2 heads have been reported having two wives, one in Deang, another in Pakxai village, which gives 7% of the husbands with two wives over the sample households. In addition, among the 30 sample households, only one of them reported having 1 person that is not one of their relatives sharing their house.
15 The National Census 95 indicates 11% of female household heads nation-wide. Page12 e 2.1.2 Settlement and migration
Table 5 gives some information about the village settlements and migration plans of the villagers.
Table5: Settlement and migration
Percentage of Relatives’ new settlement Location Average number of Percentage of households that Village years spent in people that plan to have relatives who Main ethnic groups village leave already left In the district Out of the district
DAKPAM 23 0% 17% - Sekong Talieng DAKTRING 29 0% 33% - Sekong Ye TANGPEUANG 5.3 50% 0% - - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 19.1 17% 17% - - Pakxai DEANG 1.1 0% 17% - Katu Tamprin Pale Sekong PAKXAI 12 0% 50% Taoy / Katu / Nge Kador Salavane KALUM Total 6.6 0% 33% - -
Sample Total 14.1 10% 23% - -
At the question “Do you plan to move?”, half of Tangpeuang sample households answered positively. Tangpeuang village is composed of three small settlements or hamlets, about half an hour far from each other. They plan to move to “Tangpeuang Khao” or “Old Tangpeuang”, the oldest settlement. The reasons for planning to move are “No land for Low land cultivation (Naa)” and “to gather with other families” for 67% of them, and “religious beliefs” and “not enough land” for 33% of them. Looking back at the recent history of Tangpeuang village, the frequency of displacements of the villagers is quite impressive. They moved a couple of times during the past few years, twice because of sudden inexplicable villagers’ deaths and once because of bad dreams!16. The average number of years spent in this village is only 5.3 years. It is particularly important to consider this issue before implementing any construction project in Tangpeuang village.
In Deang, Kalum district, the average 1.1 years spent in the village should be underlined. Deang is actually a new village where the people have just settled. It could explain part of the precariousness in Deang, which can be noticed in the next chapters of this report.
Among the people who plan to move and the relatives of them that moved already, 56% of the destinations are outside the district. In Dakchung district, none of the relatives who already left stayed in Dakchung.
16 When the villagers move to a new location, they first build a makeshift shelter enabling them to stay a short period. If they sleep well, don’t make nightmares and have a good feeling, they can stay and settle down, if not they pack up and move out in search of a new location. This seems to be applicable as well for the choice of a new parcel for slash and burn cultivation. Page13 e The table 6 summarises the main reasons for moving out among the sample household relatives that already left. The question about the relatives who already left was added in the questionnaire for two reasons. First, in order to double the sample size17, second, because it was expected that the villagers would be more inclined to give the true reasons for moving, when referring to their relatives than when talking about themselves. Table 6: Reasons for moving among the relatives who already left
No land for To work in Not enough To marry No land for To join Bad Bad quality Only eat Village Low land government rice someone coffee relatives weather of soil cassava Main ethnic groups cultivation offices
DAKPAM ------100% 100% 100% Talieng DAKTRING - - - 50% - 50% - - - Ye TANGPEUANG ------Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 0% 0% 0% 33% 0% 33% 33% 33% 33%
DEANG - - 100% ------Katu PAKXAI 67% 67% 33% - 33% - - - - Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 50% 50% 50% - 25% - - - -
Sample Total 29% 29% 29% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14%
The main reasons for moving are “No land for low land cultivation”, “Not enough rice” and “ to marry someone” for 29% of the answers. We can notice that the first reason given by Tangpeuang households who plan to move is “No land for low land cultivation” as well. Graph 3 shows the main reasons for moving and compares the households planning to move with the ones who already left.
Graph 3 : Reasons for moving out of the sample villages
No land for Naa Tangpeuang To gather with others families families who plan to leave to the old Religious biliefs village Not enought land No land for Naa Not enought rice to marry someone To work in government offices No land for coffee to join relatives Relatives who Because of the bad weather already left the sample villages Because of the bad quality of soil Only cassava to eat
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
17 For each interviewed household, information is gathered about them and about their relatives, therefore, twice as many answers are collected. Page14 e 2.1.3 Spoken dialects
Table 7 summarises the diversity of local dialects spoken among the sample households. The Laotian language has not been added to the other local dialects for comparison, but there is at least one person in each household who can speak it at least a little (See also Table 9: Laotian language). . Table 7: Dialects spoken % of households18 that speak : Average number Village of Main ethnic groups Vietnam Katu19 Nge Taoy Alak Talieng Ye Taliou Chatong Dakang Pacoh Laven ese spoken dialects in each family DAKPAM 17% 0% 17% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% 0% 1.5 Talieng DAKTRING 17% 0% 0% 33% 33% 100% 100% 0% 0% 17% 0% 0% 3 Ye TANGPEUANG 17% 83% 17% 0% 0% 100% 0% 100% 0% 100% 0% 0% 4.2 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 17% 28% 11% 11% 11% 100% 33% 33% 0% 39% 6% 0% 2.9
DEANG 67% 100% 83% 67% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 33% 17% 3.7 Katu PAKXAI 17% 100% 100% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 33% 0% 3.5 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 42% 100% 92% 83% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 33% 8% 3.6
In Kalum district, among the sample households, the Katu dialect is ranked in first position with all the households that can speak it. Then comes in second position, the Nge dialect spoken by 92% and the Taoy dialect spoken by 83%. It is remarkable that the Vietnamese language is spoken by at least one member of 42% of the households, although Pakxai and Deang villages are relatively far from the Vietnamese border.
In Dakchung district, among the sample households, the main dialect is the Talieng, spoken by all the sample households. Then comes in second position, the Dakang dialect spoken by 39%, the Taliou and the Ye dialects spoken by 33%. The katu language can be spoken by at least one member of 28% of the sample households, in fact exclusively in Tangpeuang village, which is located close to Kalum border, by 5 households out of 6, suggesting some exchanges between the two districts. The Vietnamese language is spoken by 17% and the Nge, Taoy and Alak dialects by 11%.
It is remarkable that, apart from the Ye people living in Dak Tring, none of the other households seem to speak that dialect. It could suggest that the Ye language is not widespread and that the Ye people have to use the other dialects to communicate outside. The average number of dialects spoken by the Ye sample households is 3. In contrast with the other ethnic groups, the Talieng sample households speak an average of 1.5 dialects. Perhaps, The fact that the Talieng is the main communication dialect in Dakchung district, favours those who can speak it and does not incite them to learn the other dialects.
Furthermore, the Talieng dialect is spoken by none of the Kalum sample households, suggesting either little exchange with Dakchung district or that the katu language is used, as it could be supposed considering the Tangpeuang households’ ability in Katu language.
18 At least one member of the household has reported being able to speak these dialects. 19 The National Census 95 indicates that nation-wide, the Katu represents 0.4% of the entire Laotian population, the Nge 0.3%, the Taoy 0.7%, the Talieng 0.5% and the Ye 0.2% Page15 e The graphs 4a and 4b summarise the diversity and importance of the different dialects in Kalum and Dakchung districts, and show the percentage of sample households being able to speak varied dialects. Graph 4b : Kalum Graph 4a : Dakchung
Talieng Katu Dakang Nge Taliou Taoy Ye Vietamese Katu Pacoh Vietamese Laven Alak Dakang Taoy Taliou Nge Ye Pacoh Talieng Laven Alak Chatong Chatong
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 2.1.4 Household belongings Table 8 summarises the percentage of sample households that own varied items. It is noticeable that none of the sample households owns a bicycle. In fact, all travels are taken on foot, and the footpaths are most of the time in no condition to permit the use of a bicycle. Considering the Kalum and Dakchung data separately, Table 8 suggests that Deang and Pakxai households, in Kalum district, have a better and more regular access to a market. Indeed, in Kalum 25% of the households own eyeglasses, as opposed to none of the Dakchung households. In Kalum, 83% of the households own a flashlight, in contrast with only 39% in Dakchung. In Kalum, 42% of the households own a radio for only 6% of the Dakchung households. Mosquito nets seem widely used with a total of 92% of the sample households owning it. There is no indication though, whether they are in good condition or not. The percentage of households in Deang and Dak Tring villages owning a mosquito net is respectively 83% and 50%. Table 8: Households belongings
% of households owning the following items: Village Gold/s Main ethnic groups Mosq Eye Cauld Hand Fish Flash dyna ilver Hand Bicycl uito Jar kettle watch radio gong glasse Loom ron tool net light mo jewell cart e net s ery DAKPAM 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 67% 67% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% 17% 0% Talieng
DAKTRING 100% 100% 50% 50% 83% 17% 33% 33% 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 17% 0% 0% Ye
TANGPEUANG 100% 83% 100% 17% 83% 33% 50% 33% 50% 0% 50% 33% 0% 0% 0% 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 100% 94% 83% 56% 89% 39% 50% 28% 17% 6% 17% 11% 0% 11% 6% 0%
DEANG 100% 100% 83% 100% 17% 100% 50% 33% 33% 33% 33% 17% 17% 17% 0% 0% Katu
PAKXAI 100% 100% 100% 83% 33% 67% 67% 50% 33% 50% 17% 33% 33% 0% 0% 0% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 100% 100% 92% 92% 25% 83% 58% 42% 33% 42% 25% 25% 25% 8% 0% 0%
Sample Total 100% 97% 87% 70% 63% 57% 53% 33% 23% 20% 20% 17% 10% 10% 3% 0%
It was reported that only few of those items were sold during the year before the interview. Two households sold cauldrons and one household sold some jewellery.
Page16 e 2.2 Education
The table 9 summarises the percentage of literate people among the sample households, calculated among the population aged 6 years and above, that can read and write the Laotian language. Table 9: Laotian language
Among the literate Among the illiterate % of Among the people that % of % of people : people : people don’t understand Lao illiterate Village literate that don’t Main ethnic groups people people % of % of % of % of understan % of % of Male Female Male Female d Lao Male Female
DAKPAM 22% 67% 33% 78% 38% 62% 44% 42% 58% Talieng DAKTRING 25% 67% 33% 72% 33% 67% 17% 14% 86% Ye TANGPEUANG 11% 67% 33% 89% 36% 64% 54% 20% 80% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 20% 67% 33% 80% 36% 64% 37% 26% 74%
DEANG 10% 100% 0% 90% 44% 56% 57% 29% 71% Katu PAKXAI 17% 67% 33% 83% 45% 55% 46% 44% 56% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 14% 88% 22% 86% 45% 55% 51% 36% 64%
Sample Total 17 % 70% 30% 83% 40% 60% 43% 31% 69%
The overall 17% of literate people in the sample households is remarkably low20. Deang village in Kalum district and Tangpeuang village in Dakchung district get the lowest percentages with respectively 10% and 11% of literate people in the sample households. Among the literate, only 30% are females. Graphs 5a and 5b show the distribution of people per age and gender, according to their fluency in Laotian language. Graph 5a : Distribution of people who can neither understand nor speak Lao per age and gender Graph 5b : Distribution of litterate people per (aged 6 years and above) age and gender (aged 6 years and above) Children female Children male Children 4% 7% Children male female 22% Adult female 26% 30% Adult male 9% Adult Adult male female 63% 39%
Not being able to read and write the Laotian language in the remote Sekong upland districts does not seem so surprising after all, but not being able neither to speak nor to understand it is more astounding. Among the sample households, an overall 43% of people can not understand nor speak the Laotian language, with more than half (51%) of the sample population in Kalum district. Within this population, 69% of them are females.It is worth noticing 2 households in Pakxai village, Kalum district and one in Tangpeuang village, Dakchung district, in which the only ones that are literate among all the members, are female.
20 The National Census 95 indicates a literacy rate among the population aged 15 years and above of 54.5 nation-wide for rural areas. The reported Sekong rate was 39.4. Page17 e The table 10 suggests that 35% of the adult males are literate for only 11% of adult females. Furthermore, nearly one woman out of 2 (47%) can neither understand nor speak the Laotian language for only one man out of 8 (13%). The children aged between 6 and 14 can not understand nor speak the Laotian language for about 70% of them, and 9% of the boys aged 6-14 are literate for only 5% of the girls aged 6-14.
Table 10: Laotian language per gender for people aged 6 years and above. Understand, speak a Understand, speak Neither understand nor Understand, speak little, neither read nor fluently, neither read speak Lao fluently, read and write write nor write % of adult male (>14 years old) 12.5% 29.2% 22.9% 35.4% % of Children male (between 6 and 14) 68.2% 22.7% 0% 9.1% % of adult female (>14 years old) 47% 39.4% 3% 10.6% % of children female (between 6 and 14) 73.7% 15.8% 5.3% 5.3%
The table 11 shows the percentage of sample people having completed different levels of Education.
Table 11: Highest level of Education completed
Percentage of sample population that completed the following highest level of Education: Village Main ethnic groups Lower Upper Primary 1 Primary 2 Primary 3 Primary 4 Primary 5 Other secondary secondary
DAKPAM 9.7% 0% 12.9% 0% 0% 3.2% 0% 0% Talieng DAKTRING 27% 9.1% 9.1% 0% 9.1% 0% 0% 0% Ye TANGPEUANG 11.4% 5.7% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 17.2% 5.5% 7.3% 0% 3.6% 1% 0% 0%
DEANG 0% 2.5% 0% 2.5% 2.5% 0% 0% 2.5% Katu PAKXAI 4.8% 11.9% 2.4% 0% 2.4% 0% 0% 0% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 2.4% 7.3% 1.2% 1.2% 2.4% 0% 0% 1.2%
Sample Total 14% 8% 6% 1% 4% 1% 0% 1%
Considering the very low literacy rates found among the sample households, it is not surprising to note the very low 4% of people having completed primary school grade 5. 14% of the sample people have completed primary school grade 1.
One person out of 192 has reached the lower secondary level. It is worth mentioning Tangpeuang sample households, for which the highest level of Education completed is primary school grade 2.
Page18 e Table 12 shows information about school locations and school enrolment. 80% of the children aged 6- 14 years, and 61% of the adult people aged over 14 years have never been at school.
Table 12: School location and enrolment Number of % of children Presence of children at Average travel between 6 and % of adults who School village Village school in the school in the time to go to 14 who have have never been name Main ethnic groups village sample school never been at at school school
DAKPAM No21 3 Dak Pam 3 min 89% 61% Talieng Dak Tring DAKTRING Yes 6 5 min 44% 26% Ye Dak Le Dak Pong TANGPEUANG No 2 6 h 45 min 67% 80% Taliou DakChung DAKCHUNG Total - 11 - 2 h 67% 54%
DEANG No22 1 Thedsaban 4 h 90% 85% Katu PAKXAI No23 0 - - 100% 60% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total - 1 - 4 h 95% 71%
Sample Total - 12 - 3 h 80% 61%
Out of 5 pilot villages, Dak Tring village, in Dakchung district, is the only village with a school and teachers assigned by the department of Education. In three villages, Dak Pam in Dakchung district, and Deang and Pakxai in Kalum district, small wooden and bamboo school buildings have been constructed by the villagers, while waiting for teachers. Currently, no one takes the children at school, but in Dak Pam where willing villagers do it irregularly.
Pakxai school Deang school
Dakpam school
21 There is a temporary school building in Dak Pam and willing villagers take turn to take classes irregularly. 22 A makeshift school has been constructed in Deang by the villagers, but no teacher have been assigned. 23 A makeshift school has been constructed in Pakxai by the villagers with the help of the government in the form of nails and roofing sheets, but no teacher have been assigned. Page19 e Graph 6 summarises the situation of the people regarding school attendance, according to their age groups.
Graph 6 : School attendance per age group
% of children between 6 and 14 years old % of adult over 14 years old
Never been at shool
Left school
At school
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Table 13 shows the percentage of sample children aged 6-14 years going to school and average ages. Pupils’ ages are higher than generally, rising from 12 up to 16 years old. In Dak Tring village, among the sample households, 6 children comprising 1/3 of females are going to school.
Table 13: School attendance per gender and age
% of children Average age of pupils: going to % of adults Ratio pupils Village school going to Male / Main ethnic groups among the school Female sample 6-14 Primary 1 Primary 2 Primary 3 Primary 4 Primary 5 age group
DAKPAM 11% 11% 33 / 67 12.5 - 15 - - Talieng DAKTRING 56% 4% 67 / 33 10.5 11 - - 16 Ye TANGPEUANG 33% 4% 50 / 50 14 19 - - - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 33% 10% 55 / 45 12 13 15 - 16
DEANG 10% 0% 100 / 0 - - - 14 - Katu PAKXAI ------Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 5% 0% 100 / 0 - - - 14 -
Sample Total 20% 3% 58 / 42 12 13 15 14 16
Some information has been collected about non-formal education as well. Courses have been attended by at least one member of 20% of the households in the villages of Tangpeuang, Deang and Pakxai. The average duration of the courses was 1.5 days and the subjects were 50% livestock and 50% agriculture.
Page20 e 2.3 Water Table 14 shows the different types of water sources used by the households.
Table 14: Sources of water
% of households using the following sources of water: Village Main ethnic groups Spring fed gravity Shallow dug well Spring Stream lake Rain water
DAKPAM 0% 17% 50% 50% 17% Talieng DAKTRING 0% 67% 50% 33% 33% Ye TANGPEUANG 0% 0% 100% 33% 17% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 0% 28% 67% 39% 22%
DEANG 0% 0% 83% 17% 0% Katu PAKXAI 0% 33% 17% 67% 0% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 0% 17% 50% 42% 0%
Sample Total 0% 23% 60% 40% 13%
The water situation in the pilot villages can be described as follows:
¨ Dak Tring village: The villagers are collecting water from three rudimentary hand dug shallow wells that are located at a distance of about 200 meters, at the foot of the village and no attempt has been made in order to protect the wells from contamination or pollution such as run-off water, animals, leaves… A cemetery has been reported to be located half way down the slope between the village and the first and second wells. The overall water quality is not satisfactory.
¨ Dak Pam village: The village comprises two settlements: “Old Dak Pam” and “New Dak Pam”. In Old Dak Pam, the water is collected from a spring 50 meters away (picture on the right). The water is piped by mean of a bamboo tube a few meters below. In the dry season, the water seems fairly clear, however, a significant water flow reduction causes some hardship to the villagers. In the wet season, the water is more abundant and remains clear. In New Dak Pam, the situation seems much worse, because the villagers collect their drinking water directly from a small stream that flows slowly below the village, about 50 meters away. It is used for washing purposes, animals breeding and drinking water. The villagers mentioned that two other villages up stream use it: Tongsieng and Dak xuang.
¨ Pakxai village: The villagers are currently collecting their water from a hand-dug shallow well that is located near a small stream flowing about the village. The distance between the well and the village center is estimated at 300 meters. That well is not protected from pollution and contamination. In addition, its location is too close to the stream and was flooded in 1998. The elevation of the stream is slightly lower than the village (about 5 meters).
Page21 e ¨ Deang village: The villagers are currently collecting their drinking water 50 meters outside their village, from a small brook running down the mountain, of which source has been located 600 meters up mountain. That brook is flowing into a larger stream Houay ai, which the villagers are using for washing and bathing purposes. It is necessary to cross Houay ai to reach the small brook, which becomes an hazardous exercise during the rainy season. In addition, the water is then muddy because of run off water. In the dry season, the water is still unsatisfactory and quantity is hardly enough.
¨ Tangpeuang village: The village comprises three settlements: “Old Tangpeuang”, “New Tangpeuang” and “Small Tangpeuang”. In Old Tangpeuang, the water is collected from a brook 20 meters away. In New Tangpeuang, the water is collected from a spring 50 meters away and is piped by mean of a bamboo tube. In Small Tangpeuang, the situation seems worse, because the villagers collect their drinking water from an unprotected shallow well, about 50 meters below the hamlet.
Table 15 summarises the types of water containers owned and used by the households. The jerry cans widely used by 83% of the sample households are actually recycled 5-litre engine oil containers. It is worth mentioning that half of Dakchung sample households are using Vietnam war flare cartridge cases as water containers (Bottom picture) , as opposed to none of the Kalum sample households. Perhaps, those flare cartridges were more used in Dakchung pilot village area than in Kalum pilot village area, which is rather far from the Vietnamese borderline. The 3 or 4-liter capacity calabash (Top-left picture) used by 70% of the households, is one of the local responses for the lack of water containers.Table 15 suggests a limited use of buckets (Top-right Picture, bucket handmade with Vietnam war wrecked aircraft) by the sample households, with only 17% of the Kalum sample households using it and 23% of Dakchung sample households. None of Tangpeuang sample households owned it. We can notice the use of bamboo containers by 42% of Kalum sample households exclusively.
Table 15: Water container ownership % of households possessing the following water containers: Village Flare Bamboo Main ethnic groups Jerry-can Calabash Cauldron cartridge Bucket Big pot Kettle Jar Wash tub container case DAKPAM 83% 67% 50% 33% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Talieng DAKTRING 83% 17% 100% 67% 67% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Ye TANGPEUANG 83% 100% 83% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 83% 61% 78% 50% 28% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
DEANG 83% 100% 0% 0% 17% 67% 17% 0% 17% 0% Katu PAKXAI 83% 67% 0% 0% 17% 17% 33% 33% 0% 17% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 83% 84% 0% 0% 17% 42% 25% 17% 9% 9%
Sample Total 83% 70% 47% 30% 23% 17% 10% 7% 3% 3%
See also the chapter 3 “Transport pattern” of this report, for the water transport characteristics analysis.
Page22 e 2.4 Health
Table 16 reports a summary of the use of the hospital and traditional doctor by the sample households. Table 16: Traditional medicine / Hospital
During the period of March 1998 until March 1999
Percenta ge of Percenta Average house- ge of number Average Average Average Average holds house- of times Average hospital Village Percenta number travel tradition Percenta that holds they travel treatment Main ethnic groups ge of of times time to al ge of received that received time to go cost per members they fetch medicine members treatment received treatment to consultati treated received ingredien treatment treated with treatment in the Hospital on treatment ts cost tradition in the past 12 (Kip) al Hospital months medicine DAKPAM 83% 49% 5.5 0H22 N.A. 83% 23% 2 1H30 32 000 Talieng DAKTRING 33% 20% 8 6H00 5 000 67% 20% 2 5H30 88 400 Ye TANGPEUANG 83% 29% 3 N.A. 30 000 33% 6% 1.5 11H 5 600 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 67% 32% 4.8 - - 61% 16% 1.9 4H35 47 000
DEANG 17% 13% 3 N.A. N.A. 33% 8% 1.5 4H00 40 000 Katu PAKXAI 33% 7% 3 1 sec. N.A. 17% 5% 2 3H00 15 000 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 25% 10% 3 - - 25% 6% 1.7 3H30 27 500
Sample Total 50% 22% 4 - - 47% 12% 1.8 4H25 44 600
Table 16 figures suggest that the sample households use almost equally the traditional medicine and the hospital with respectively 50% and 47% of use. It seems that the frequency of traditional medicine use is twice as high as the frequency of the hospital use. The distance and cost of hospital treatment (44 600 kip/consultation on average) could incite people to seek local treatment at first.
Map2 In Kalum district as in Dakchung district, the only hospital is located at the district centre (See map2). For the three Hospital Dakchung pilot villages, it is 6% worth noticing the direct correlation between the travel time to the hospital and the percentage of households that House received a treatment during the year before the interview. In 94% Dak Pam village, which is 1h 30 far from hospital, as much as 83% of the households have been treated, as opposed to Tangpeuang sample households, who live a day far from hospital, went only for 33% of them.
Page23 e Tables 17 and 18 show, among the households that received medical treatment, the percentage of families that reported varied health problems that caused them to seek treatment by traditional medicine or hospital.
Table 17: Main health problems causing the Table 18: Main health problems causing the use of traditional medicine use of hospital Traditional Main health problems Main health problems Hospital medicine Stomach ache 53% Stomach ache 29% Fever 47% Infection 29% Head ache 27% Cough 29% Don't know 20% Diarrhoea 14% Cough 13% Fever 14% Diarrhoea 13% Head ache 14% Ear ache 7% Malaria 14% Don't know 14% Breathing problems 7%
Tables 17 and 18 suggest that similar symptoms seem to have led people to seek treatment from hospital and traditional medicine, with an exception for the case of infection. It is worth noticing the high percentage of stomach-aches (53% of the sample households that received treatment from traditional medicine and 29% from hospital) and fever/malaria (47% from traditional medicine and 28% from hospital) among the sick people. The graph7 synthetises the varied symptoms leading people to consult traditional medicine or hospital.
Graph 7 :Reported symptoms that led sample households to traditional medicine or hospital
53% Traditional medicine Hospital
47%
29% 29% 29% 27%
20%
14% 14% 13% 13% 14% 14% 14%
7% 7%
Stomach Fever Head Cough Diarrhoea Ear ache Infection Malaria Breathing Don't ache ache problems know
It is interesting to notice that none of the households has reported receiving a treatment from the traditional medicine for malaria, though 47% of them consulted for fever. Perhaps, they know it is malaria only when they get a diagnosis in hospital.
Page24 e Tables 19 and 20 show, among the households that received medical treatment, the percentage of families that reported varied reasons for preferring traditional medicine or hospital.
Table 19: Main reasons for preferring the Table 20: Main reasons for preferring the use use of traditional medicine of hospital Traditional Main reasons Main reasons Hospital medicine Usual way 17% Can't treat by themselves 64% After used get better 13% Too much sick 14% Hospital too far 13% Sacrifice not enough 7% Not enough money 13% Usual way 7% Not enough time 13% Plant are better than medicine 13% Plants are enough 13% Can't treat by themselves 7%
The table 20 suggests that the main reasons that trigger the decision of going to hospital are because the traditional medicine has proved inefficient. 64% of the households reported that they could not treat the disease by themselves, or that the gravity of the sickness was such that they had to go to hospital with 14% of the households reporting “too much sick”. 7% of the sample households reported that the animal sacrifice that they performed brought no satisfactory result. Those reasons tend to prove that the villagers use the traditional medicine first, and then turn to modern medicine when inadequate. The first justification of the traditional medicine use is because it is normal. 17% of the sample household answers were “it is the usual way”. The second reason is because it works. 13% of the sample household answers were “after using it, they get better” and “plants are better than modern medicine” and “plants are enough”. The third main reason is because they do not have much choice because the health facilities are too far and because they can not afford it. 13% of the answers were “Not enough money” and “hospital too far”. Table 21 summarises the answers given about the use of medicine, sacrifices and plants. Table 21: Use of Medicine, sacrifices and plants Average Types of treatment used by order of priority: Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of percentage of households households households Village dead people not using not using not using Main ethnic groups during the First choice Second choice Third choice Medicine Sacrifice Plants last 12 months
DAKPAM 6% Medicine Plants Sacrifice 0% 33% 33% Talieng Plants DAKTRING 2% Medicine - 0% 50% 50% Ye Sacrifice TANGPEUANG 6% Medicine Sacrifice Plants 0% 17% 33% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 5% Medicine Plants Sacrifice 0% 33% 39%
DEANG 3% Medicine Sacrifice Plant 0% 50% 67% Katu PAKXAI 0% Medicine Sacrifice Plants 0% 33% 67% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 1% Medicine Sacrifice Plants 0% 58% 67%
Sample Total 3% Medicine Sacrifice Plants 0% 37% 50%
Table 21 suggests that absolutely all the sample households use the modern medicine, when the use of traditional means seem more limited. However, on average, almost 4 households out of six still use sacrifices, with a maximum of 83% of the sample households in Tangpeuang village, Dakchung district. Half of the households seem not to make use of plants for medical treatment.
Page25 e According to table 21, the households are unanimous in reporting that they use medicine in priority. It seems in contradiction with the results given by the table 16, with the frequency of treatments by traditional medicine and hospital, and with the results of tables 19 and 20, with the main reasons for preferring hospital or traditional medicine. Perhaps the question was misunderstood and people comprehended they were asked what they preferred to use.
Table 22 summarises information about the female spouses of the heads of sample households.
Table 22: Health practices Average Percenta Percentage of wives Average Percentage of wives that gave birth in: number of ge of that gave birth : Village age of pregnancies children Main ethnic groups wives Hospital House Field Forest Alone Helped per wife still alive
DAKPAM 6.2 34.5 48% 0% 100% 0% 0% 60% 40% Talieng DAKTRING 5.3 49 56% 17% 83% 0% 0% 33% 67% Ye TANGPEUANG 5 32.5 73% 0% 100% 0% 0% 50% 33% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 5.5 39 59% 6% 94% 0% 0% 47% 47% DEANG 5.5 38.6 70% 0% 0% 0% 100% 17% 83% Katu PAKXAI 6 34.9 75% 0% 17% 0% 83% 33% 67% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 5.8 36.7 72% 0% 8% 0% 92% 25% 75%
Sample Total 5.6 37.8 65% 3% 59% 0% 38% 38% 57%
Table 22 shows different habits in Kalum pilot villages and Dakchung pilot villages. In Dakchung sample households, the women gave birth mainly in their house, except one who went to hospital. Half of them gave birth alone. In Kalum sample households, the women gave birth mainly in the forest, except one who stayed at home. 62% of them were helped when they gave birth, but still one woman out of 4 (25%) gave birth alone in the forest.
It was asked to the female spouses of heads of households, how many children they gave birth to and how many of them are still alive24. The mothers, whose ages rise from 17 up to 80 years old, with an average of 38 years old, gave birth to 5.6 children who are still alive for 65% of them, on average.
Graph 8a : Places of child birth in Dakchung Graph 8b : Places of child birth in Kalum
Hospital House 6% 8%
House 94% Forest 92%
24 The National Census 95 reports that nation-wide, the women aged 15-49 years gave birth on average to 2.7 children. (5.6 children ever born for women aged 45-49), 83% of the children ever born were still alive at the day of the census. Page26 e 2.5 Agriculture
2.5.1 Main crops produced
The table 23 summarises the crops produced by the sample households in each pilot village.
Table 23: Crops produced Average Percentage of households that produced the following crops: total Village number of First Crop Second crop Third crop Fourth crop Fifth crop crops Main ethnic groups produced Crop % Crop % Crop % Crop % Crop % per household Tobacco 33% Sweet Potato 67% Taro 33% DAKPAM Rice 100% Cassava 100% Maize 100% Taro 17% 8.5 Hot Chili Pepper 17% Talieng Hot Chili Pepper 17% Sweet Potato 17% Fruit 40% Vegetables 40% Hot Chili Pepper 20% DAKTRING Rice 100% Maize 100% Cassava 100% Taro 40% 7.7 Ye Vegetables 20% Tobacco 20% Tobacco 20% Taro 50% Tobacco 33% Maize 67% Rice 83% Cassava 67% Hot Chili Pepper 17% Taro 33% TANGPEUANG Cassava 17% 8.8 Cassava 17% Maize 33% Tobacco 17% Sugarcane 17% Taliou Rice 17% Sweet Potato 17% Hot chili Pepper 17% DAKCHUNG Tobacco 29% Taro 35% Taro 24% Sweet potato 29% Maize 59% Hot Chili Pepper 18% Rice 94% Cassava 59% Hot Chili Pepper 12% Cassava 35% Fruit 12% 8.3 Total Cassava 6% Maize 41% Tobacco 12% Rice 6% Sweet potato 6% Vegetables 6% Vegetables 6% Sugarcane 6%
Hot Chili Pepper 33% Tobacco 50% Maize 67% Cassava 83% Fruit 33% Sugarcane 17% DEANG Rice 100% Cassava 17% 10.3 Maize 17% Maize 17% Sweet Potato 17% Katu Hot Chili Pepper 17% Tobacco 17% Hot Chili Pepper 17%
Tobacco 40% Hot Chili Pepper 40% Cassava 80% Maize 80% Sweet Potato 20% PAKXAI Rice 100% Fruit 40% 9.6 Taoy / Katu / Nge Maize 20% Cassava 20% Taro 20% Taro 20% Fruit 20% KALUM Tobacco 46% Hot Chili Pepper 36% Sweet potato 18% Maize 73% Fruit 36% Rice 100% Cassava 82% Hot Chili Pepper 9% Cassava 18% Maize 9% Total Maize 18% Fruit 9% 10 Hot Chili Pepper 9% Tobacco 9% Taro 9% Taro 9% Sugarcane 9%
Taro 25% Tobacco 36% Hot Chili Pepper 21% Taro 18% Maize 63% Rice 96% Sweet potato 18% Hot Chili Pepper 14% Cassava 68% Cassava 29% Cassava 4% Fruit 14% Sweet potato 11% 9 Sample Total Maize 32% Hot Chili Pepper 4% Tobacco 11% Fruit 11% Rice 4% Vegetables 7% Sugarcane 6% Maize 4% Vegetables 4%
The first crop produced is Rice with 96% of the sample households. 97% of the sample households cultivate cassava and 95% of the sample households cultivate maize as a second or third crop. The fourth and fifth crops are more varied from one household to another. 43% of the sample households cultivate taro and 29% of the sample households cultivate sweet potato as fourth or fifth crop. Tobacco is cultivated by 47% of the sample households and Hot chili pepper is cultivated by 29% as a fourth or fifth crop. There are also fruits with 25% of the households, and vegetable with 11%.
Page27 e 2.5.2 Main crops sold or bartered
Table 24 summarises the crops sold or bartered by the sample households. Table 24: Crops sold or bartered Hot Sweet Vegetab Cucumb Pumpki Village Chili Cassava Fruit Maize Rice Tobacco Taro Potato les er n Main ethnic groups Pepper DAKPAM 33% 67% 17% 17% 50% 33% 17% 17% 17% 17% 0% Talieng DAKTRING 33% 0% 17% 33% 0% 17% 33% 17% 17% 17% 0% Ye TANGPEUANG 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 22% 22% 11% 17% 17% 17% 17% 11% 11% 11% 0% DEANG 50% 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Katu PAKXAI 0% 33% 17% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 25% 17% 17% 8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8%
Sample Total 23% 20% 13% 13% 10% 10% 10% 7% 7% 7% 3%
Table 24 suggests that hot chili pepper is sold or bartered by 23% of the sample households. One household out of two sells or barters it in Deang village. It is worth mentioning that none of the crops listed above are sold or bartered by the Tangpeuang sample households. It seems that the remote location of their village prevents them from having regular access to a market place. Cassava is sold by an average of 20% of the sample households, with a maximum of 2 households out of three (67%) in Dak Pam village, Dakchung district. Half of Dak Pam sample households sell or barter sweet potatoes as well. Only two sample households in Dak Tring (33%) and one in Dak Pam (17%) reported selling or bartering rice. The graph 9 gives an overview of the proportion of sample households producing, selling/bartering varied crops. In Dakchung district, 44% of the families sold or bartered on average 3.7 crops and women are responsible for 81% of the total volume of activities, men 3% and children 16%. There is a remarkable difference in Kalum, where men seem to be much more involved in marketing activities than in Dakchung. In Kalum, 50% of the families sold or bartered on average 1.5 crops and women are responsible for 33% of the total volume of activities, men 67% and children 0%. To sum up, out of the 30 sample families, 14 families (47%) sold or bartered crops and women are responsible for 66% of the total volume of activities, men 22% and children 12%. Graph 9 : Percentage of sample households producing and selling/bartering varied crops Percentage of households that cultivate the following crops 100% 100% Percentage of households that sell or barter the following crops 97% 87% 87% 87% 83% 80% 70% . 50%
33%
23% 20% 20% 17% 13% 13% 10% 10% 10% 7% 7% 7%7% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%
Rice Taro Fruit Maize Squash Coffee Cotton Cassava Tobacco Legumes Pumpkin Calabash Eggplant Vegetables Sugarcane Cucumber Sweet Potato Hot Chili Pepper Page28 e 2.5.3 Food consumption and rice self-sufficiency
The table 25 shows data about the rice self-sufficiency period for the sample households, and their backup foods.
Table 25: Rice self-sufficiency
Average rice When the households face a shortage of rice they replace it by: Percentage of self households that Village sufficiency received official Main ethnic groups period % % % Crop Crop Crop food aid (Months) answers answers answers
DAKPAM 2.7 Cassava 100% Maize 67% Sweet potato 33% 100% Talieng DAKTRING 7.3 Maize 100% Cassava 50% - - 83% Ye TANGPEUANG 5 Cassava 100% Maize 50% Sweet potato 17% 100% Taliou
DAKCHUNG Sweet Total 5 Cassava 83% Maize 72% 17% 94% potato Sweet potato 33% DEANG 3.2 Cassava 83% Maize 33% 83% Katu Roots 17% PAKXAI 3.2 Cassava 100% Maize 33% Roots 17% 50% Taoy / Katu / Nge Sweet KALUM 17% Total 3.2 Cassava 92% Maize 33% potato 67% 17% Roots
Sweet 17% Sample Total 4.3 Cassava 87% Maize 47% potato 83% Roots 7%
Table 25 shows an average 4.3-month period of rice self-sufficiency for the sample households. The shortest and the longest periods have been reported in Dakchung district, respectively in Dak Pam village with on average less than 3 months and in Dak Tring village with more than 7 months.
When the sample households face a shortage of rice they replace it by other starchy foods, such as cassava, maize, roots or sweet potatoes. It has been also reported that, the households do not wait until they run out of rice to consume those complementary foods but, in order to make their reserves of rice last longer, they often consume the rice mixed with cassava, maize or taro.
It is also worth mentioning the fact that 83% of the sample households received some food aid from the government between May 98-May 99. Moreover, the number of meals per day is usually comprised between two and three.
Page29 e The table 26 summarises the frequency of consumption of the main foods throughout the year.
Table 26: Food consumption calendar
% of sample households Consumption Food Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec reporting the Frequency consumption Hot chili Pepper 90% 3 times per day Salt 97% White rice 77% Sticky rice 83% Cassava 83% 2 times per day Wild fruits 10% Banana 30% Maize 100% Vegetable 93% Root 20% Mango 7% Taro 80% Sweet potato 53% Legume 30% Fruits 17% Cucumber 80% 1 time per day Pumpkin 77% Wild vegetable 87% Bamboo root 70% Guava 10% Sugar 23% Orange 37% Mushroom 83% Sugarcane 37% 2 times per week Jackfruit 10% Wild animal 17% Fish 37% Livestock 3% 1 time per week Meat 47% Animal oil 10% Pineapple 7% Monkey 3% Bird 7% 2 times per month Chicken 73% Egg 43% Buffalo 23% Pig 50% Wild pig 17% 1 time per month Mouse 3% Wild chicken 10% Goat 10% 5 times per year Squirrel 7% 4 times per year
Page30 e Two different kinds of information are shown in the table 26. First, the percentages of households that reported the consumption of the foods listed above and second, the frequency of that consumption. The first information gives an idea of how widespread the consumption of the food is among the sample population. The second gives an idea of the importance those foods represent in the diet of those households. The foods most consumed are as expected rice, maize, cassava, taro, but also vegetable from their garden or wild, mushrooms, cucumber, and condiments as salt and hot chili pepper. The least consumed foods are mouse, monkey, squirrel or bird, and fruits like mango, pineapple. 30% of the sample households reported banana consumption 2 times per day most of the year. It is worth mentioning that about half (47%) of the sample households reported meat consumption once a week. Some of that meat could come from hunting, although only 17% of the sample households reported the consumption of wild animals. Eggs, eaten by 43% of the sample households almost all year round, and chicken eaten by 73% during eight months per year seem to be consumed twice a month on average. Half of the sample households reported the consumption of domestic pigs once month, when only 17% of the households declared eating as often wild pigs.
Table 27 shows an estimate of rice consumed per day per person, with the estimated quantities of rice harvested per person given in table 28 and the rice self-sufficiency duration given in table 26.
Table 27: estimated quantity of rice consumed per day per people during the declared rice period of self-sufficiency Estimated consumption of rice per people Village per day Main ethnic groups (grams) during the rice sufficiency period DAKPAM 330 Talieng DAKTRING 440 Ye TANGPEUANG 270 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 440 DEANG 1100 Katu PAKXAI 992 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 1050
Sample Total 633
The quantities of rice consumed per day per person in Kalum district, seem over estimated. The rice- self-sufficiency period could have been underestimated or the harvested quantities could have been exaggerated.
Page31 e 2.5.4 Upland rice cultivation (Rai)
Table 28 presents some information about the main agricultural activity of the sample households that is slash and burn rice farming.
Table 28: Up-land rice cultivation (Rai)- yield
Percentage of Average Average Estimated percentage of Average Yield 25 households Average number of number of damages (KGs Village cultivating up Fallow period kilograms of kilograms of harvested per Main ethnic groups Land rice (years) rice planted rice harvested KGs planted) during during (Rai) per person per person cultivation storage
DAKPAM 100% 16 5.5 26.5 5-1 35% 23% Talieng DAKTRING 100% 13 5.2 95.5 19-1 42% 29% Ye TANGPEUANG 17% 17 4 40 10-1 62% 12% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 72% 15.3 5 65.3 12-1 40% 25%
DEANG 100% 13 6 106.7 18-1 54% 12% Katu PAKXAI 100% 8 6.5 95.2 14-1 37% 29% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 100% 10.5 6.3 100 16-1 46% 21%
Sample Total 83% 13.4 5.7 81.7 14-1 43% 23%
Upland rice is widely cultivated in Dakchung and Kalum districts. In the five pilot villages, Tangpeuang village is the only one where a significant proportion of households has replaced upland cultivation (Rai) by low land cultivation (Naa). In that village, one household is still practising Rai. The fallow period declared in Dakchung, about 15 years on average, seems higher than in Kalum district with only 10 years on average. The yields given in table 28 must be regarded as estimates. Indeed, the quantities of rice planted and harvested have been reported with local units, which were in that case: baskets (capas). From the number of baskets (capas) reported, it has been converted into kilograms.
It must be mentioned that the estimated percentages of damage, during both cultivation and storage are very high, respectively 40% and 20%, on average.
25It has been asked to the villagers what proportion of damages they encountered during cultivation and storage. It was given the choice between 4 possible answers: Very few, less than half, more than half, almost all. In order to estimate the percentage of damages, it was taken the mean of the 4 classes, i.e. 12.5% for very few, 37.5% for less than half, 62.5% for more than half and 87.5% for almost all. Page32 e Table 29 and table 30 show the sample households’ perception of the causes of their problems during upland rice cultivation and storage.
Table 29: Problems during cultivation Table 30: Problems during storage Percentage of Percentage of households that households reported the that reported Problems following Problems the following problems problem with during their paddy cultivation: storage: Mouse 84% Mouse 80% Ant 40% Bird 20% Bird 28% Ant 12% Locust 16% Weevil 12% Wild pig 16% Squirrel 8% Termite 12% Monkey 4% Deer 8% Wild animal 4% Horned lizard 8% Wild pig 4% Weevil 8% Rot 4% Inch worm 4% Monkey 4% Pig 4% Wild animal 4% Squirrel 4% No kernel in paddy grain 4% Weather 4% Hedgehog 4%
It is worth mentioning the problems with rodents, during both cultivation (84%) and storage (80%).
Page33 e 2.5.5 Lowland rice cultivation (Naa)
Despite the fact that lowland cultivation (Naa) is not widely practised in Dakchung and Kalum districts, because of the hilly topography and the lack of flat, potentially irrigable plots of land, Naa is often perceived as the only alternative to slash and burn upland cultivation (Rai). It seems that the sample households believe they will have to stop Rai before the year 2000, and the lack of sufficient adequate plots of lands, lack of agricultural technical knowledge and tools worry them. 2 sample households out of 3 in Dak Pam village, and all the households of Tangpeuang village are practising low land cultivation (Naa).
The table 31 summarises the situation in the sample households regarding the lowland cultivation.
Table 31: Lowland rice cultivation (Naa) yield Among the people who cultivate Low land (Naa) Percentage of households Average Average Village cultivating Average Yield 26 number of number of Estimated percentage of damages Main ethnic groups Low Land (KGs kilograms of kilograms of rice (Naa) harvested per rice planted rice harvested KGs planted) during cultivation during storage per person per person DAKPAM 67% 1.6 4 4-1 39% 8% Talieng
DAKTRING 0% - - - - - Ye
TANGPEUANG 100% 4.9 41 9-1 31% 12% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 56% 3.8 37 8-1 34% 10%
DEANG 0% - - - - - Katu PAKXAI 0% - - - - - Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 0% 0 0 0 0 0
Sample Total 33% - - - - -
The yields given in table 31 must be regarded as estimates. Indeed, the quantities of rice planted and harvested have been reported with local units, which were in that case: baskets (capas). From the number of baskets (capas) reported, it has been converted into kilograms. The low yields estimated could be an indicator of a lack of mastery of the agricultural techniques.
26 It has been asked to the villagers what proportion of damages they encountered during cultivation and storage. It was given the choice between 4 possible answers: Very few, less than half, more than half, almost all. In order to estimate the percentage of damages, it was taken the mean of the 4 classes, i.e. 12.5% for very few, 37.5% for less than half, 62.5% for more than half and 87.5% for almost all.
Page34 e Table 32 and table show the sample households’ perception of the causes of their problems during lowland rice cultivation and storage.
Table 32: Problems during cultivation Table 33: Problems during storage Percentage of Percentage of households that households that reported the Problems reported the following Problems following problem problems during with their paddy cultivation: storage: Mouse 90% Mouse 50% Bird 70% Inch worm 10% Rot 10%
As for up land cultivation and storage, rodents seem to constitute a big problem with respectively 90% and 50% of the households reporting it. In addition, 70% of the sample households cultivating low land, declared that birds constitute a major problem, in contrast with only 28% of the upland sample households.
Page35 e 2.5.6 Cassava
73% of the families reported that the first main crop other than rice is cassava. Cassava is a very important food for the sample households because it prevents them from starvation when the rice lacks. They can fetch it when they need it without wasting it, because the roots can remain a long time underground and continue growing. Table 34: Cassava cultivation
Village Percentage of damages27 Cultivation Period Adult male participation Adult Female Main ethnic groups during cultivation (months) (%) participation (%)
DAKPAM 38% 7 49% 51% Talieng DAKTRING 48% 7 41% 59% Ye TANGPEUANG 25% 7 N.A. N.A. Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 37% 7 45% 55%
DEANG 38% 6 41% 59% Katu PAKXAI 38% 7 41% 59% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 38% 7 41% 59%
Sample Total 38% 7 43% 57%
The average duration of cassava cultivation is 7 months and the gender participation seems slightly unbalanced in favor of females, with a ratio male / female of 43 / 57. The table 34 suggests that the estimated percentage of damages during cultivation is almost 40% (38%) and the table 35 suggests that termites (33%) and wild pigs (33%) are responsible of most of the damages. Questions were asked about cassava harvests but the figures are rather incoherent when it comes to evaluate yields, therefore no interpretation has been made. Table 35: Cassava cultivation problems Percentage of households that Problems reported the following problems during cultivation: Termite 33% Wild pig 33% Mouse 13% Inch worm 10% Field cricket 10% Weather 10% Rot 7% Hedgehog 7% Wild animal 7% Squirrel 7% Deer 3% Locust 3% Pig 3% Buffalo 3%
27 It has been asked to the villagers what proportion of damages they encountered during cultivation and storage. It was given the choice between 4 possible answers: Very few, less than half, more than half, almost all. In order to estimate the percentage of damages, it was taken the mean of the 4 classes, i.e. 12.5% for very few, 37.5% for less than half, 62.5% for more than half and 87.5% for almost all. Page36 e 2.5.7 Maize
Maize constitutes with cassava the second main backup food when the rice lacks. Its harvest is less flexible than for cassava, but it still provides a valuable food complement to the households from July until October.
Table 36: Maize cultivation
Village Percentage of damages28 Cultivation Period Adult male participation Adult Female Main ethnic groups during cultivation (months) (%) participation (%)
DAKPAM 43% 6 46% 54% Talieng DAKTRING 44% 5 40% 60% Ye TANGPEUANG 25% 5 N.A. N.A. Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 37% 5 43% 57%
DEANG 42% 5 40% 60% Katu PAKXAI 23% 4 39% 61% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 33% 5 40% 60%
Sample Total 35% 5 42% 58%
The average duration of Maize cultivation is 5 months and the gender participation seems slightly unbalanced in favour of females with a ratio male / female of 42 / 58. The table 36 suggests that the estimated percentage of damages during cultivation is 35% and the table 37 suggests that mice (60%) and weevils (23%) are responsible of most of the damages. Questions were asked about maize harvests but the figures are rather incoherent when it comes to evaluate yields, therefore no interpretation has been made.
Table 37: Maize cultivation problems Percentage of households that Problems reported the following problems during cultivation: Mouse 60% Weevil 23% Inch worm 20% Ant 17% Bird 13% Horned lizard 10% Field cricket 7% Monkey 7% Termite 3% Wild pig 3% Weather 3% Locust 3% Wild animal 3% Chicken 3%
28 It has been asked to the villagers what proportion of damages they encountered during cultivation and storage. It was given the choice between 4 possible answers: Very few, less than half, more than half, almost all. In order to estimate the percentage of damages, it was taken the mean of the 4 classes, i.e. 12.5% for very few, 37.5% for less than half, 62.5% for more than half and 87.5% for almost all. Page37 e 2.5.8 Busiest cultivation period
The table 38 presents a summary of the agricultural activities for which people are the busiest. Table 38: Busiest cultivation period activities for adult males, adult females and children
Adult Males Adult Females Children Percentage Percentage Percentage of of of Activities Activities Activities households households households reporting it reporting it reporting it Clearing Land 53% Cultivating 50% Clearing the land 13% Cultivating 50% Weeding 43% Weeding 10% Taking care of Fencing 23% Clearing the land 40% 10% children or elderly Weeding 23% Fencing 27% Fencing 7% Digging the Low land Digging the Low land 13% 10% Cultivating 7% field field Cultivating the Cultivating the Digging the Low land 13% 10% 3% garden garden field Harvesting 10% Harvesting 7% Seedling 7% Seedling 7% Cultivating Maize 3% Cultivating Maize 3% Planting 3% Taking care of 3% children or elderly Graph 10 : Busiest cultivation period per gender distribution
100%
90%
Adult Male 80% Adult Female 70% Children
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0% Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
The people, men, women and children are the busiest during the February-May period with a peak in April. The activities for which the adult males are the busiest are “clearing land” for 53% of them, “cultivating” for 50%, “fencing” and “weeding” both for 23%. Concerning the adult females, the activities that keep them busiest are the same as for men, suggesting a balanced gender participation of husbands and wives in rice cultivation. First, there is “cultivating” for 50% of them, then “weeding” for 43%, “clearing land” for 40% and “fencing” for 27%. The children seem to participate into land clearing and weeding activities and declared them as the busiest for respectively 13% and 10%. They also take care of children and elderly, and 10% of the households have reported that it constitutes one of the busiest activity for children.
Page38 e 2.5.9 Help from others
Table 39: Help from others.
Percentage of Among the families that received help from others households Village that received Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of Main ethnic groups help from households that paid households that paid households that paid households that paid others back with an back otherwise back in kind back in cash exchange of work (unspecified) DAKPAM 33% 100% 0% 0% 50% Talieng DAKTRING 50% 100% 33% 33% 33% Ye TANGPEUANG 33% 0% 0% 0% 100% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 39% 71% 14% 14% 57%
DEANG 33% 50% 50% 50% 50% Katu PAKXAI 50% 67% 0% 0% 33% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 42% 60% 20% 20% 40%
Sample Total 40% 67% 17% 17% 50%
Table 39 shows that 40% of the sample households received help from others during the May 98-May 99 period. 2 households out of 3 (67%) paid back the help they received with an exchange of work. Only 1 out of 6 (17%) paid back in cash or in kind. There is a fairly high percentage of households (50%) that paid back otherwise, without specifying what that “otherwise” could possibly mean. A possible misunderstanding may have occurred with the “paid back in kind” category. Further village visits will permit to make inquiries about that question. The table 40 and the graph 11 summarise the main activities for which the sample villagers sought help from others. There is a good correlation with the table 38 listing the activities for which the people are the busiest. It is in fact logical that they need help for those activities that are mainly “clearing land” for 42%, “cultivating” for 33%, “weeding” for 25%, “harvesting” and “fencing” both for 17%. Table 40: Main activities for which Graph 11 : Percentage of households that sought help villagers sought help from others from others per activities
Among the households that received help Main activities for 42% from others, which villagers sought Percentage of help from others families that sought help for 33% such an activity
Clearing Land 42% 25% Cultivating 33%
Weeding 25% 17% 17%
Harvesting 17%
Fencing 17% 8% 8% 8% Digging the low land 8% field Cultivating the garden 8% Clearing Land Cultivating Weeding Harvesting Fencing Digging the low Cultivating the House House construction 8% land field garden construction
Page39 e 2.5.10 Livestock
Cattle Table 41: Cattle(summary of the information related to the sample households’ cattle) % of cattle that died ( May 98 -May 99 ) Total number of heads of cattle Average number of heads of Village All the percentages are referring in the sample households in 1999 cattle per household in May 1999 Main ethnic groups to the total number of heads in 1998
DAKPAM 2 0.3 50% Talieng DAKTRING 3 0.5 25% Ye TANGPEUANG 0 0 - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 5 0.3 38%
DEANG 1 0.2 0% Katu PAKXAI 18 3 50% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 19 1.6 33%
Sample Total 24 0.8 36%
It is worth mentioning the 18 heads of cattle in Pakxai village. A credit has been given to the Pakxai villagers by the Agricultural Promotion Bank to buy Cattle. Our sample households bought a total of 17 heads of cattle during the 1999 year, which represents an average of 2.8 head/household. There are 0.3 cattle per household in Dakchung district. No cattle have been sold and the only heads of cattle bought were in Pakxai village. An average of 36% of heads of cattle died in a year period. Buffalo Table 42: Buffalo(summary of the information related to the sample households’ buffaloes)
% of Buffaloes that died ( May 98 -May 99 ) Total number of Buffaloes Average number of Buffaloes Village All the percentages are referring in the sample households in 1999 per household in May 1999 Main ethnic groups to the total number of heads in 1998
DAKPAM 13 2.2 19% Talieng DAKTRING 17 2.8 26% Ye TANGPEUANG 6 1 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 36 2 20%
DEANG 3 0.5 40% Katu PAKXAI 5 0.8 0% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 8 0.7 20%
Sample Total 44 1.5 20%
Table 42 suggests a higher number of buffaloes in Dakchung than in Kalum district with respectively 2 buffaloes and 0.7 buffaloes per household. 20% of the buffaloes died during the May 98 – May 99 period on average. No buffalo has been reported sold or bought by the sample households during that period.
Page40 e Pig
Table 43: Pig (summary of the information related to the sample households’ pigs)
Total number Average All the percentages are referring to the total number of heads in 1998 of Pigs number of Village in the sample Pigs per % of Pigs that % of Pigs Main ethnic groups households in household in Village where % of Pigs sold Village where died bought 1999 May 1999 Pigs have ( May 98 - Pigs have ( May 98 - ( May 98 - been bought May 99 ) been sold May 99 ) May 99 ) DAKPAM 11 1.8 35% 0% - 0% - Talieng DAKTRING 13 2.2 41% 0% - 0% - Ye TANGPEUANG 17 2.8 37% 0% - 0% - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 41 2.3 38% 0% - 0% - Yorn DEANG 26 4.3 14% 7% 0% - Katu Tangkai PAKXAI 24 4 15% 12% Pakxai 4% Thedsaban Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 50 4.2 14% 9% - 2% -
Sample Total 91 3 28% 4% - 1% -
There are on average 3 pigs per sample household. 28% of the pigs died on average during the May 98- May 99 period, with an higher average in Dakchung district (38%). The worst was in Dak Tring village, where 2 pigs out of 5 died. No pig has been reported sold or bought by our sample households in Dakchung district. In Kalum district, there has been some trading with pigs. Only one household in Pakxai village could get some cash income in selling one pig in the district centre.
Dog
Table 44: Dog (summary of the information related to the sample households’ dogs)
% of Dogs that died ( May 98 -May 99 ) Total number of Dogs in the Average number of Dogs per Village All the percentages are referring sample households in 1999 household in May 1999 Main ethnic groups to the total number of heads in 1998
DAKPAM 11 1.8 8% Talieng DAKTRING 5 0.8 29% Ye TANGPEUANG 4 0.5 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 20 1.1 13%
DEANG 6 1 14% Katu PAKXAI 4 0.7 20% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 10 0.8 17%
Sample Total 30 1 14%
On average, there is one dog per sample household and no dog has been reported sold or bought by the sample households during 1998-1999.
Page41 e Goat Table 45: Goat (summary of the information related to the sample households’ goats) % of Goats that died ( May 98 -May 99 ) Total number of Goats in the Average number of Goats per Village All the percentages are referring sample households in 1999 household in May 1999 Main ethnic groups to the total number of heads in 1998 DAKPAM 0 0 0% Talieng DAKTRING 0 0 0% Ye TANGPEUANG 6 1 0% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 6 0.3 0%
DEANG 5 0.8 50% Katu PAKXAI
KALUM 0 0 0% Taoy / Katu / Nge Total 5 0.4 50%
Sample Total 11 0.4 29%
There are 0.4 goats per sample household. It is worth mentioning that Deang sample households have lost half of their flock.1 goat has been bought by a Deang family in Thongkai village Chicken Table 46: Chicken (summary of the information related to the sample households’ chicken)
Total number Average All the percentages are referring to the total number of heads in 1998 of Chicken in number of Village the sample Chicken per % of Chicken % of Chicken % of Chicken Main ethnic groups households in household in Village where Village where that died bought sold 1999 May 1999 Chicken have Chicken have ( May 98 - ( May 98 - ( May 98 - been bought been sold May 99 ) May 99 ) May 99 ) Dakchung DAKPAM 28 4.7 5% 0% - 23% Talieng Dak Pam DAKTRING 35 5.8 38% 0% - 14% Dakchung Ye TANGPEUANG 20 3.3 27% 4% Tangpeuang 0% - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 83 4.6 26% 1% - 14% -
DEANG 188 31.3 17% 1% Deang 3% Deang Katu PAKXAI 79 13.2 42% 33% Pakxai 3% Pakxai Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 267 22.3 24% 10% - 3% -
Sample Total 350 11.7 25% 7% - 6% -
In Dakchung district, there are almost 5 Chicken (4.6) per sample household. In Kalum the figures collected are much higher and should be considered with precaution. Deang village is a new settled village, and it seems unlikely that they could possibly own about 30 chicken per household. On average, 1 chicken out of 4 (25%) died during the May 98 - May 99 period. It is worth noticing that chicken represent the most marketed livestock of all. In Dak Pam village, which is located only one and half-hour far from the main market in the district centre, the sample households have sold one fourth of their poultry. Dak Tring sample households have sold some chicken (14%) in Dakchung district town. Tangpeuang sample households have not sold any chicken, probably by lack of opportunity, being too far from any market place. Among the Kalum sample households very few chicken have been sold during the May 98- May 99 period, about 3 chicken for 4 households.
Page42 e Other minor livestock
¨ Duck: 4 ducks have been reported in Dak Pam village and 7 in Deang village, where 36% have died between May 98 and May 99, which represents 4 ducks.
¨ Horse: 3 horses have been reported in Dak Tring village and one household in Deang village has sold 5 of their horses, all what they had, to another Deang villager.
The graph 12a and 12b summarise the percentage of livestock dead or sold during the May 98-99 period among the sample households.
Graph 12 a : Percentage of livestock dead per village between May 98 and May 99.
Dead Cattle Dead Buffalo Dead Pig Dead Dog Dead Chicken Dead Horse Dead Duck
50% 50%
42% 41% 40% 38% 37% 35% 36% 29% 26% 27% 25% 19% 17% 20% 14%14% 15% 8% 5%
DAKPAM DAKTRING TANGPEUANG DEANG PAKXAI
Graph 12 b : Percentage of livestock sold per village between May 98 and May 99 100% Sold Cattle Sold Buffalo Sold Pig Sold Dog Sold Chicken Sold Horse Sold Duck
23%
14%
3% 4% 3%
DAKPAM DAKTRING TANGPEUANG DEANG PAKXAI
Page43 e Activities
2.5.11 Main sources of cash income
Table 47: Main sources of cash income Percentage of households that reported the following sources of cash income as being the: Village First Second Third Fourth Other Main ethnic groups Cash Income % Cash Income % Cash Income % Cash Income % Cash Income %
Livestock 17% Forest produces 33% Cash from 17% Livestock 17% Livestock 17% relatives Casual labor 17% Casual labor in 17% DAKPAM Handicraft 17% Livestock 17% Employment 17% outside the village Talieng Agricultural outside Forest produces 17% produces 17% Agricultural 17% produces Cash from relatives 17% Veteran pension 17% Casual labor Casual labor in 17% Casual labor 17% DAKTRING outside 17% the village outside Governmental 17% Livestock 33% Casual labor 17% Employment pension Ye 17% Handicraft 17% outside outside Agricultural 17% Agricultural 33% produces produces
Casual labor 33% Cash from 17% outside Forest produces 17% TANGPEUANG relatives 17% Livestock 17% Livestock 17% Handicraft 33% Taliou Handicraft Livestock 17% DAKCHUNG
Agricultural 22% produces Livestock 11% Livestock 22% Cash from 11% Forest 11% Livestock 11% relatives produces Casual labor 11% Employment 6% Casual labor 6% Livestock 6% Handicraft 11% outside outside in the village Forest 6% Total Agricultural 11% Forest 6% Veteran 6% Government 6% produces produces produces pension al pension Handicraft 11% Casual labor 17% Employment 6% Casual labor 6% outside outside in the village Cash from 6% Casual labor 6% relatives outside Handicraft 6%
Livestock 17% Agricultural 17% Handicraft 33% Livestock 17% produces Employment DEANG Livestock 17% Agricultural 17% 17% Forest produces 33% outside Katu produces Casual labor 17% outside
Agricultural 17% Livestock 33% produces Forest produces 33% PAKXAI Forest produces 50% Casual labor 17% Livestock 17% Taoy / Katu / Nge Agricultural outside Agricultural produces 17% Loan 17% produces 17% KALUM Handicraft 33%
Forest 42% Handicraft 33% produces Agricultural 8% Forest 17% Livestock 25% produces produces Employment Total Agricultural 17% Casual labor 8% Livestock 17% 8% outside produces outside Agricultural 17% Casual labor 8% Loan 8% produces outside Livestock 8%
Page44 e Graph 13 : Sample households' main sources of income
49%
37% 36% 31% 30%
10% 9% 6% 3% 3% 3%
Loan
Livestock Handicraft
Forest produces veteran pension Cash from relatives Agricultural produces Casual labor outside Employment outside Casual labor in village Governmental pension
Graph 13 and table 47 suggest that the main source of cash income is livestock reported by 49% of the sample households. If we refer to graph 12b and table 46, we can reasonably assume that the term “livestock” is mainly referring to chicken. The second most reported sources of cash income seem to come from the sale of agricultural produces (37% of the households) and forest produces (36% of the households). It is worth mentioning that handicraft and casual labour outside the village are reported equally as being counted among the main sources of incomes by one thied of the sample households.
Page45 e 2.5.12 Main non farm activities
Table 48: Main non-farm activities Percentage of households that carried out the following non-farm activities: Village First non-farm Second non-farm Third non-farm Fourth non-farm Other non-farm Main ethnic groups Activity % Activity % Activity % Activity % Activities %
Rice alcohol 33% Basket table Blacksmith 33% DAKPAM Blacksmith 17% Cassava alcohol 33% Blacksmith 17% 17% making Cassava alcohol 33% Talieng Cassava alcohol 17%
Blacksmith 33% Rice alcohol 17% Cassava alcohol 17% Blacksmith 17% Rice alcohol 17% Blacksmith 17% DAKTRING Blacksmith 17% Spinning dyeing 17% Basket table 17% Basket and table 17% Ye Millet alcohol 17% Maize alcohol 17% making making
Basket table 33% making Basket table 33% Cassava alcohol 33% Sewing weaving 17% Blacksmith 33% Cassava alcohol 17% TANGPEUANG making Basket table Blacksmith 33% DAKCHUNG Gold panning 17% Gold panning 17% Taliou Blacksmith 17% making 17% Gold panning 33% Rice alcohol 17%
Blacksmith 28% Cassava 11% Cassava 17% Cassava 11% Blacksmith 28% alcohol alcohol Basket table 11% alcohol Rice alcohol 17% Blacksmith 11% Blacksmith 11% making Rice alcohol 11% Cassava alcohol 6% Spinning 6% Basket table 11% Cassava 6% Basket and 17% Total Basket table 6% dyeing making alcohol table making making Maize alcohol 6% Millet alcohol 6% Gold panning 6% Sewing 6% Gold panning 6% Basket table 6% weaving making Gold panning 11%
Blacksmith 33% DEANG Basket table 17% Cassava alcohol 17% Rice alcohol 17% Mat making 17% Katu making
Sewing weaving 17% Blacksmith 33% Blacksmith 33% Rice alcohol 33% Mat making 17% Rice alcohol 17% Rice alcohol 33% PAKXAI Basket table 17% Taoy / Katu / Nge Basket table 17% Mat making 33% Cassava alcohol 17% making making Basket table 17% making KALUM
Blacksmith 17% Blacksmith 33% Rice alcohol 17% Rice alcohol 17% Basket table 17% Cassava 8% Sewing 8% Rice alcohol 17% Total making alcohol Mat making 8% weaving Mat making 17% Mat making 8% Basket table Cassava 8% making 8% alcohol Basket table 8% making
Table 48 and graph 14 show that the most widespread non-farm activity is blaksmith. It is remarkable that the villagers can make tools and ustensils, given the fact that they use rudimentary smithy and recycled metal from war. Half of the househols produce cassava alcohol when nearly 2 out 5 produce rice alcohol. 43% of the sample households produce baskets and rice tables. Dakchung sample households exclusively reported gold panning for 23% of them.
Page46 e 2.5.13 Non farm produces sold or bartered
The table 49 presents a summary of the main non-farm produces the sample households sell or barter.
Table 49: Non farm produces sold or bartered Average Percentage of households that sell or barter the following Non Farm produces number of produces Village sold or Basket Main ethnic groups Cassava Gold Rice Blacksmit Sewing Fish net Mat bartered table Alcohol Panning Alcohol h Weaving making making per making household DAKPAM 83% 17% 17% 17% 17% 0% 0% 0% 1.5 Talieng DAKTRING 0% 17% 0% 17% 33% 0% 0% 0% 0.7 Ye TANGPEUANG 0% 17% 67% 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 1 Taliou Total 28% 17% 28% 11% 22% 0% 0% 0% 1.1 DAKCHUNG DEANG 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0.2 Katu PAKXAI 17% 17% 0% 50% 17% 17% 17% 17% 1.5 Taoy / Katu / Nge Total 8% 17% 0% 25% 8% 8% 8% 8% 0.8 KALUM
Sample Total 20% 17% 17% 17% 17% 3% 3% 3% 1
Table 49 suggests that the alcohol industry in Dak Pam village goes well. Indeed, five sample households out of six (83%) sell or barter cassava alcohol and one out of six (17%) sell or barter rice alcohol. In Dak Tring village, 17% of the sample households sell or barter rice alcohol, in contrast with one out of two Pakxai sample households who sell and barter it.Exclusively in Dakchung sample households has it been reported sale or bartering of Gold. It seems very common in Tangpeuang village where two households out of three (67%) declared selling or bartering it, but seems less widespread in Dak Pam village with only 17% of the sample households. We can also mention the sale of baskets, rice tables and blacksmith by one sample household out of six (17%). On average, the sample households sell or barter one produce out of 2.5 produced items in Dakchung district and out of 1.9 in Kalum district.Graph 14 shows a summary of production and marketing of non-farm produces. In Dakchung, 72% of the families sold or bartered on average 1.5 non farm produces and women are responsible for 43% of the total volume of activities, men 52% and children 4%. There is a remarkable difference in Kalum, where men seem to be much more involved in marketing activities than in Dakchung. In Kalum, 42% of the households sold or bartered on average 2 non farm produces and women are responsible for 64% of the total volume of activities, men 36% and children 0%.
Page47 e To sum up, out of the 30 sample families, 18 families (60%) sold or bartered 1.6 non farm produces and women are responsible for 50% of the total volume of activities, men 47% and children 3%. Usually, the sample households have sold or bartered their non-farm produces in their village or in the district centre, with few exceptions. Blacksmith has been sold by a few Tangpeuang sample households in Tangyeuy village and by a few Dak Tring sample households in Dak Ak village.
Graph 14 : % of sample households producing and selling/bartering the following non-farm produces
Main non-farm produces made by the households Main non-farm produces sold or bartered 70%
47% 43%
37%
20% 17% 17% 17% 17% 13% 13%
7% 3% 3% 3%3% 3% 3% 3%
Blacksmith Cassava Basket Rice Gold Mat Sewing Fish Net Maize Millet Spinning Alcohol Table Alcohol Panning Making Weaving Making Alcohol Alcohol Dyeing Making
Tangpeuang smithy
Page48 e Consumption
2.5.14 Basic product consumption
Table 50 summarises the proportion of sample households that reported having purchased the products listed below during the May 1998 – May 1999 period.
Table 50: Consumption Percentage of households that purchased the following products during the period May Products 1998- May 1999: Dakchung Kalum Total Sample Salt 100% 100% 100% Sodium glutamate 100% 100% 100% Washing powder 89% 83% 87% Soap 61% 83% 70% Sugar 22% 67% 40% Radio batteries 28% 58% 40% Candle 6% 0% 3% Dynamo 6% 0% 3%
It is worth noticing the widespread use of salt by the sample households. A salt iodization project could have a large impact. Nine sample households out of ten reported the purchase of washing powder during the May 1998- May 1999 period. The use of candles seems very limited according to table 50, with only 3% of the households reporting them buying it during the same period.
The table 51 is an attempt to give an idea of the quantities of basic products consumed per year per person. The average figures should be regarded as estimates.
Table 51 suggests a restricted consumption of sugar, soap and washing powder. About 2 soaps and 500 grams of washing powder per year per person on average. Furthermore, according to the estimations of table 51, each sample people purchases one piece of clothes per year (eg. shirt, tee-shirt or pants). The use of sodium glutamate, which enhances the taste of food seems to be widespread and the estimated average quantity consumed per year per person is 1KG.
Table 51: estimated consumption of basic products per year per person Average Average Average quantity of Average Average Average quantity of quantity of salt Sodium quantity of number of number of soaps washing powder Village consumed per Glutamate sugar consumed pieces of clothes consumed per consumed per Main ethnic groups people per year consumed per per people per bought per people per year people per year (KG) people per year year (KG) people per year (KG) (KG) DAKPAM 5 1 1 2 0.2 0.4 Talieng DAKTRING 7 1 0 1 1.4 1 Ye TANGPEUANG 5 0.4 0 0.2 0.2 1 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 6 1 0.2 1 0.6 1
DEANG 2 1 1 3 0.4 1 Katu PAKXAI 2 1 0.1 2 0.3 2 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 2 1 0.4 2 0.4 2
Sample Total 4 1 0.3 2 0.5 1
One Tangpeuang household has reported the purchase of a dynamo in Vietnam.
Page49 e 2.5.15 Medicine consumption
The table 52 summarises the consumption of medicine by the sample households during the May 98- May 99 period.
Table 52: Medicine consumption
Percentage of households that bought medicine Average quantity bought Average Frequency of Village Medicine shop location Main ethnic groups during the period May each time (Kip) purchasing 98-May 99
DAKPAM 100% 28 200 2.2 Dakchung Talieng DAKTRING 100% 59 000 2.6 Dakchung Ye TANGPEUANG 83% 23 300 1.8 Dakchung Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 94% 38 900 2.3 - Thedsaban DEANG 83% 50 000 1.6 Katu Salavan Thedsaban PAKXAI 67% 2000 1.6 Taoy / Katu / Nge Salavan KALUM Total 75% 26 000 1.6 -
Sample Total 87% 35 500 kip 2.1 -
Table 52 indicates that 9 sample households out of 10 purchased medicine during the 98-99 period. They went to buy medicine on average twice a year and spent about 35 000 kip each time. Medicine has been purchased either in district centres or in Salavan provincial town for Kalum sample households.
Expenditures
The table 53 summarises the main household expenditure categories, sorted according to their shares of the total yearly expenses, in such a way that we can understand how most of the household budget is spent.
Table 53: Distribution of yearly household expenditures according to the proportion compared to the total. Compared with the total of cash expenditures of the household between May 98-May 99, Expenditures Percentage of families, which reported that the following expenditures represent: Very Few Less than half More than half Almost all Social occasions 23% 10% 3% 0% Medical expenses 10% 40% 27% 7% Household items 13% 17% 23% 20% Food 3% 3% 17% 0% Payment to relatives 20% 3% 0% 3% Village contributions 10% 7% 10% 0% Beverages 17% 3% 3% 0% Transport 3% 13% 3% 0% Fertilizer 3% 0% 0% 0% Seeds 0% 3% 0% 0%
Among the expenses that represent almost all of the total amount of yearly expenditures, 20% of the households reported “household items”, 7% mentioned “Medical expenses” and only 3% for “payment to relatives”.
Page50 e “Household items” have been reported by 43% of the sample households and “food” by 17% as representing at least “more than half” of the total amount of yearly expenses. One sample household out of three (34%) declared that “Medical expenses” constitute more than half of the global expenditures and 40% “less than half”. 13% of the sample households declared that “transport” represent “less than half” of the total. “Social occasions“, “payment to relatives” and “village contribution” have been reported by respectively 33%, 23% and 17% of the sample households as constituting very few or less than half of the total amount of yearly expenses. Graph 15 gives a summary of households’ answers concerning their expenditures.
Graph 15 : % of Households, which reported that their basic expenditures represent the following proportion of their annual cash expenditures
Very Few
Less than half
More than half
Almost all
40%
27% 23% 23% 20% 20% 17% 17% 17% 13% 13% 10% 10% 10% 10% 7% 7% 3% 3% 3% 3%3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%
Medical Household Social Village Payment to Food Beverages Transport Fertilizer Seeds expenses items occasions contributions relatives
Page51 e Market
The table 54 summarises the main markets used by the sample households. All the transports are done on foot except for the occasional truck they can step into to go down to Sekong. (One Deang village sample household mentioned it.) Table 54: Main markets
% of Average Average Average Average Average Average % of % of househ number travel number travel number travel househol househol Market 1 olds of trips time to Market 2 of trips time to Market 3 of trips time to Village ds ds Name visiting to go to the Name to go to the Name to go to the Main ethnic groups visiting visiting market market 1 market 1 market 2 market 2 market 3 market 3 market 2 market 3 1 per year (min) per year (min) per year (min)
DAKPAM Dakchung 100% 9 80 ------Talieng
DAKTRING Dakchung 100% 9 300 Sekong 33% 1 1800 Pakse 17% 1 N.A. Ye
TANGPEUANG Dakchung 100% 2 740 Vietnam 17% 3 600 - - - - Taliou DAKCHUNG Total ------
DEANG Thedsaban 100% 7 270 Salavan 67% 3 1620 Sekong 17% 1 N.A. Katu PAKXAI Thedsaban 100% 9 170 Salavan 83% 2 940 - - - - Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total ------
Table 54 suggests that for the sample households, the main market is located at the district centre. They visit it twice a year only for those living far, as in Tangpeuang village (about 12 hour walk) and up to 9 times on average for the households located closer to the market. The other main markets mentioned by the households are Sekong, Salavan, Pakse and Vietnam.
The reasons to go to the markets are in order of importance “to buy” (91%), “to visit relatives” (7%) in Dak Tring, to sell (6%), to barter (5%), to charge batteries (3%) in Pakxai, to deal with government (3%) in Dak Tring. In Dakchung district, Adult Males seem to be slightly more involved in marketing activities (52%) than adult females (41%). According to the figures, Children seldom travel to market (7%). In Kalum district, Adult Males seem to be significantly more involved in marketing activities (92%) than adult females (8%). According to the figures, Children do not travel to market at all.
To sum up at sample level, adult males are more involved in marketing activities (71%) than adult females (25%) and children seldom travel to market (4%).
It is important to notice the lack of cost real awareness of manufactured goods. In Tangpeuang village an old man (picture) exchanged a jar about US$ 200 worth with an old radio set hardly working that belonged to a vietnamese fellow.
Page52 e Households’ problems
The table 55 shows a summary of the wide variety of answers that were given to the question concerning the sample households’ problems.
The main problem reported by 77% of the sample households is related to health. The harsh conditions of living, combined with the scarcity of health facilities available and the expensive cost of medical consultations tend to make the households particularly vulnerable. When a household member becomes sick, the household labour force is reduced when more expenses are about to be made, either to consult and purchase medicine or to sacrifice an animal. If the household decided that going to the hospital was needed, then the ill person would be accompanied, be taken care of and supplied with food. The second and third problems reported are “not enough rice” and “not enough money”, which is often perceived as the same idea. It has been mentioned in the chapter concerning food consumption29, that in the case of the sample households, the lack of rice did not necessarily mean starvation, but could be replaced by backup foods like cassava, maize, taro… Probably, if the households could rely only on rice, they would not have to work so hard with secondary crop cultivation.
It is worth mentioning that one household out of 6 (17%) reported not having enough clothes and that 2 sample households reported unsatisfactory water in Pakxai village.
Moreover, one household out of ten (10%) declared that its house burnt completely during the period 1998-99, (two households living in Dak Tring and one in Pakxai village).
Table 55:Living condition Household problems Percentage of Households that reported the following problems: Total Problems Dak Dak Tang - Total Total Dakchu Deang Pakxai Pam Tring peuang Kalum Sample ng Health problems 67% 82% 100% 83% 100% 33% 67% 77% Not enough rice 50% 33% 33% 39% 100% 100% 100% 63% Not enough money 17% 33% 33% 28% 50% 50% 50% 37% No clothes 0% 17% 0% 6% 33% 33% 33% 17% Bad living condition 17% 17% 0% 11% 17% 17% 17% 13% The house burnt 0% 33% 0% 11% 0% 17% 8% 10% Can not work 17% 0% 17% 11% 17% 0% 8% 10% Too much work 17% 17% 17% 17% 0% 0% 0% 10% No education 33% 0% 0% 11% 0% 0% 0% 7% No house 0% 0% 17% 6% 0% 17% 8% 7% Unclean water 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 33% 17% 7% Food problems 17% 0% 0% 6% 17% 0% 8% 7% Far from hospital 17% 0% 0% 6% 17% 0% 8% 7% No family income 0% 0% 17% 6% 17% 0% 8% 7% Not enough labor 0% 17% 0% 6% 17% 0% 8% 7% Bad road 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% 0% 8% 3% No permanent house 0% 17% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3% Just settle in the village 0% 0% 17% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3% School not accessible 17% 0% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3% No plan for the future 0% 17% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3% No inheritance 0% 17% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3%
The table 56 summarises the agricultural household problems. The main problem reported on average by 23% of the sample households and by one Tangpeuang household out of two is the insufficient harvest. Unsettled harvests due to variable weather, bad soils, lack of land and crops destroyed by wild animals seem to constitute the major problems with respectively 20%, and 17% of the sample households.Graph 16 gives an overview of all the households’ problems.
29 See tables 25 and 26 of this report Page53 e Table 56:Agricultural Household problems Percentage of Households that reported the following problems: Total Problems Dak Dak Tang - Total Total Dakchu Deang Pakxai Pam Tring peuang Kalum Sample ng Not enough harvest 17% 0% 50% 22% 17% 33% 25% 23% The weather is unpredictable 0% 0% 0% 0% 33% 67% 50% 20% Bad soil 33% 17% 17% 22% 17% 0% 8% 17% Crops destroyed by predators 17% 0% 33% 17% 0% 33% 17% 17% Not enough land 17% 33% 17% 22% 0% 17% 8% 17% Problems to make up land rice (Rai) 0% 17% 17% 11% 17% 0% 8% 10% No technical knowledge to cultivate 17% 0% 33% 17% 0% 0% 0% 10% Problems to make Low land rice (Naa) 0% 0% 33% 11% 0% 0% 0% 7% Agriculture problems 17% 17% 0% 11% 0% 0% 0% 7% No tools 0% 17% 0% 6% 0% 17% 8% 3% Problem with livestock 0% 0% 17% 6% 0% 0% 0% 3%
Graph 16 :Percentage of households that reported the following problems
Health problems 77% Not enough rice 63% Not enough money 37% Not enough harvest 23% The weather is unpredictable 20% Not enough land 17% Crops destroyed by predators 17% Bad soil 17% No clothes 17% Bad living condition 13% No technical knowledge to cultivate 10% Problems to make up land rice (Rai) 10% Too much work 10% Can not work 10% The house burnt 10% Agriculture problems 7% Problems to make Low land rice (Naa) 7% Not enough labor 7% No family income 7% Far from hospital 7% Food problems 7% Unclean water 7% No house 7% No education 7% Problems with livestock 3% No tools 3% No inheritance 3% No plan for the future 3% School not accessible 3% Just settle in the village 3% No permanent house 3% Bad road 3%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Page54 e Households’ perception of their situation
At the end of the interview, it has been asked to the sample households, how they were feeling compared with the year before. Table 57 shows the proportion of sample households that feel rather better off in 1999 than in 1998, about the same and worse off.
Table 57: Situation in May 1999 compared with 1998
Percentage of Households that Percentage of Households that Percentage of Households that Village feel being better off in 99 than in feel being worse off in 99 than in feel being about the same in 99 Main ethnic groups 1998 1998 than in 1998
DAKPAM 33% 0% 67% Talieng DAKTRING 33% 33% 33% Ye TANGPEUANG 17% 0% 83% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 28% 11% 61%
DEANG 50% 0% 50% Katu PAKXAI 33% 33% 33% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 42% 16% 42%
Sample Total 33% 13% 53%
More than half of the sample households (53%) have the feeling that their situation is about the same compared with the year before. One household out Better off of 3 thinks that the situation Same 34% has improved, with a 53% maximum in Deang village, with 50% of sample Worse off 13% households. 13% of the sample households feel that the situation has deteriorated, 2 Dak Tring and 2 Pakxai sample households.
Page55 e The table 58 summarises the major reasons for positive changes.
Table 58: Major reasons for having the feeling of being better off now than in 1998 Reasons Dakchung Kalum Total sample Trade in the Market 40% 100% 70% Better road condition 0% 80% 40% Help from the Government 0% 80% 40% Agriculture advice from the Government 40% 0% 20% Cultivate on time 40% 0% 20% Better accessibility 20% 20% 20% Better living condition 40% 0% 20% More harvest 20% 0% 10% Plans from the Government 20% 0% 10% Permanent house 20% 0% 10%
“Trade in the market” seems to be the most frequent (70%) justification for having the feeling that the situation is better off in 1999. Then comes “better road condition” and “better accessibility” with respectively 40% and 20% of the sample households and “help from the government” and “agriculture advice from the government” with 40% and 20%. One household in Dak Tring village mentioned a better harvest.
The table 59 summarises the major reasons for negative changes.
Table 59: Major reasons for having the feeling of being worse off now than in 1998 Reasons Dakchung Kalum Total sample Everything burnt 100% 50% 75% Not enough Rice 50% 0% 25% No family income 0% 50% 25%
Four households out of thirty declared being worse off in 1999 than in 1998. Three of them, two in Dak Tring village and another one in Pakxai village justified their feeling because their houses burnt. Another household because they had to face a lack of rice and because of the lack of cash income.
The table 60 summarises the major reasons for an unchanged situation
Table 60: Major reasons for having the feeling of being about the same now than in 1998 Reasons Dakchung Kalum Total sample Not enough Harvest 27% 0% 19% Not enough Rice 27% 0% 19% Bad soil 27% 0% 19% No family income 0% 40% 13% Bad Road condition 9% 0% 6% Better road condition 0% 20% 6% Just settled in the Village 0% 20% 6% Not enough money 9% 0% 6% Health problems 9% 0% 6% Not enough labor 9% 0% 6% No new technical knowledge to cultivate 9% 0% 6%
The major reasons for having the feeling of being the same in 1999 as in 1998 are rather negative but are probably perceived as not being worse than before. Insufficient harvest (19%), lack of rice (19%), bad soil (19%) and no cash income (13%) seem to be perceived as part of their every day life, without any feeling of deterioration or improvement. Graph 17 presents an overview of the reasons that the households gave to explain their feeling about the current situation.
Page56 e Graph 17: % of households that gave the following reasons to explain their perception of their situation
Trade in the Market 23%
Help from the Government 13%
Better road condition 13%
Bad soil 10%
Not enough Rice 10%
Not enough Harvest 10%
No family income 7%
Everything burnt 7%
Better living condition 7%
Better accessibility 7%
Cultivate on time 7%
Agriculture advice from the Government 7%
No family income 3%
Not enough Rice 3%
Permanent house 3%
Plans from the Government 3%
More harvest 3% Better off No new technical knowledge to cultivate 3% Same Not enough labor 3%
Health problems 3% Worse off
Not enough money 3%
Just settled in the Village 3%
Better road condition 3%
Bad Road condition 3%
Page57 e 3 Transport pattern
This chapter is concerned with the local transport system and priority attached to the attainment of basic needs and services for the sample households living in the five SIP-Dev pilot villages. The survey was therefore attached to studying the travel characteristics to basic requirements such as water, firewood, building materials as well as to agricultural production and marketing facilities and to social services.
Household travel for a particular purpose is defined in terms of:
¨ Trip frequency: is defined by the number of round trips performed during a period of reference, eg. 1 journey from the house to the source of water, and back to the house in a day period, every day, is one trip per day. ¨ Means of transport: Travel in and around the villages are predominantly on foot, with only very limited use of other means. (Transports are limited to the occasional truck bound to the provincial town) ¨ Trip time: People find it difficult to estimate distances. We therefore asked “how long to get there” since time is easier to estimate, eg. the time to travel from the house to the source of water. This time was then converted to distance of travel, considering an average speed on foot of 4km/h. When we accumulate the data to estimate the time spent on transport for a particular activity, the result is the travel time only, eg. It includes the time spent travelling from the house to the source of water and the time spent to go back to the house, but NOT the time spent at the water source.
Page58 e ¨ Responsibility within the household: For the purpose of defining responsibilities, households members are divided into three categories: Adult males, adult females and children aged 14 years old and under.
All trips may be divided into two broad types: ¨ Personal travel, which is mainly concerned by people moving from one place to another, eg. Travel to school, to hospital. ¨ Load-carrying trips, which are mainly concerned with moving cargo loads from one place to another, e.g. firewood collection, water collection, crop harvesting.
The classification is not precise, since some personal travel will involve carrying limited loads, eg. coming back home with a few purchased goods from the market. For the main load-carrying trips of the sample households, an estimate has been made of load- carrying effort. Load-carrying effort is defined in tonne.km.
Tonne.km: Tonne.km is the standard method of expressing the magnitude of any load carrying transport activity. 1 tonne.km is the transport effort involved in the movement of a 1 tonne load over a distance of 1 kilometre. Thus if a transport activity involving the movement of a 25 kg load over a distance of 5 km is repeated 100 times during a year, the total transport effort is calculated as: (25/1000) X 5 X 100 =12.5 tonne.km per annum. For personal trips made on foot, there is a physical effort involved in walking. However, this has not been calculated, only the load-carrying effort is estimated.
Page59 e 3.1 Firewood
Firewood is of primary importance for the households, as it constitutes the main cooking fuel30, provides heat and light. Furthermore, fireplaces in the traditional houses are not equipped with any flue so that the smoke remains inside, which irritates the throat and eyes, and is probably aggravating respiratory problems, however, it has some practical and useful aspects as well. Villagers store above the fireplace, all kinds of things they don’t want the termites and insects to infest, such as corn seeds for the next year, baskets, rice tables, dry meat etc. Besides, the smoke keeps mosquitoes away and is likely to protect the villagers from the dangers of contracting malaria when being inside their houses.
It was difficult for people to estimate weights of firewood carried. A preliminary firewood survey was conducted to evaluate average firewood loads carried by children aged 14 and under, adult males and adult females. According to the results of the firewood survey, typical firewood loads are assumed to be 20 KG per trip, which corresponds to one full basket (capa) of average size.
The table 61 summarises the average number of trips and time spent by a sample household in firewood collection transport31.
Table 61: Firewood daily transport activities
Time per Number of trips Number of Distance per Household per day Travel time to go 2. Village per household per Kilograms per Household per day (hours) (minutes) Main ethnic groups day Household per day (kilometres)
DAKPAM 2 3 34.3 55 12 Talieng DAKTRING 2 5 35.9 90 21 Ye TANGPEUANG 1 2 20.8 57 7 Taliou DAKCHUNG TOTAL 2 3 30.4 135 13
DEANG 1 1 22.5 31 5 Katu PAKXAI 2 4 32.9 82 18 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM TOTAL 1 3 27.7 56 11
SAMPLE TOTAL 1.5 trips 3 hours 30 kgs 13 kms 63 minutes
On average, the sample households are about 1 hour from a source of firewood and per day, make 1.5 trips, bring back almost 30 kilograms of firewood and cover a total distance of 13 kilometres. The distances covered range from 5 kilometres in Deang village to 21 kilometres in Dak Tring.
30 According to the National Census 95, nation-wide, 92.7% of the households use wood as the main energy for cooking. 31 The time spent in wood gathering, wood cutting etc has not been calculated, but only the time spent to go there and go back home. Page60 e Table 62: Firewood collection responsibility within the household
Percentage of Percentage of Number of baskets Percentage of Number of baskets (20 Village female children (20 kg) per day in male participation kg) per day in winter Main ethnic groups participation participation summer
DAKPAM 8 % 50 % 42 % 2.3 1.1 (Talieng) DAKTRING 0 % 60 % 40 % 2.5 1.1 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 0 % 75 % 25 % 1.3 0.8 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 3 % 60 % 37 % 2.1 1 DEANG 0 % 75 % 25 % 1.5 0.8 (Katu) PAKXAI 0 % 85.7 % 14 % 2.1 1.2 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 0 % 80 % 20 % 1.8 1
SAMPLE TOTAL 2 % 74 % 24 % 2 (40 kg) 1 (20 kg)
The male participation has been found to be very limited (2%), actually almost negligible. Adult females are mainly (74%) carrying out Adult female the task of fetching firewood with the help 74% of the children (24%). Children 24%
In the average sample household, the women Adult male carry back 22 kilograms of firewood per day 2% and walk a 10-kilometre distance, when children carry back about 8 kilograms of firewood per day and walk a 3-kilometre distance. As for men, they carry back 600 grams of firewood per day and walk about 250 metres, on average.
See also the chapter 3.7 “Transport pattern summary”, to compare “firewood” with other activities.
During Tangpeuang firewood survey, a pregnant woman was encountered carrying firewood back home. Her load weighed 26 KG. She said that the quantity was larger in winter time. She was planning to go on with her firewood collection duty until her ninth month of pregnancy.
Page61 e 3.2 Building materials
The term “building materials” comprises varied raw materials that the villagers fetch in the forest in order to build their houses, granaries, etc. such as wood, thatch, bamboo and also to make handicraft like rattan. The collection of building materials can be a very tiring activity, but is carried out only periodically, when the villagers have just settled or when a component of the house needs some repair, e.g. thatch needs to be replaced.
Table 63: Building materials collection responsibility within the household
Village Percentage of male Percentage of female Percentage of children Average travel time to go Main ethnic groups participation participation participation (minutes)
DAKPAM 62% 23% 15% 171 Talieng DAKTRING 64% 36% 0% 268 Ye TANGPEUANG 64% 33% 3% 125 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 64% 32% 5% 183
DEANG 74% 26% 0% 214 Katu PAKXAI 69% 27% 4% 232 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 72% 26% 2% 222
Sample Total 68% 29% 3% 205
Table 63 suggests that the collection of building materials is primarily under men’s responsibility, with an adult male participation of 68%. The Adult male participation of children is not significant. 68% The estimate of the average time and effort spent per day per household is not worth showing Adult female because, even if the activity of collecting building 29% materials is tiring and significant it is usually Children carried out within a short period of the year by 3% only a few households, since most of the others have settled long time ago and when it is divided up over a year period, it represents very little.
See also the chapter 3.7 “Transport pattern summary”, to compare “building materials” with other activities.
Page62 e 3.3 Water
It was difficult for people to estimate weights of water carried. A preliminary water survey was conducted to evaluate average water loads carried by children aged 14 and under, adult males and adult females. According to the results of the water survey, typical water loads are assumed to be 11 KG per trip for adults (males and females) and 4 KG for children. The table 64 summarises the average number of trips and time spent by a sample household in water collection transport Table 64: Household Efforts in water collection per day Time per Household per Average water Number of trips per Distance per Household Village day (hours) consumption per household per day per day (kilometres) Main ethnic groups Household per day
DAKPAM 5 1 43 4 Talieng DAKTRING 7 1 48 3 Ye TANGPEUANG 5 1 51 3 Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 6 1 46 4 DEANG 5 1 48 3 Katu PAKXAI 5 1 61 5 Taoy / Katu / Nge
KALUM Total 5 1 53 4
Sample total 5 1 50 4
On average, the sample households are about 5 minutes from a source of water and per day, make 5 trips, bring back almost 50 litres and cover a total distance of 4 kilometres. The distances covered range from 3 kilometres to 5 kilometres. Table 65: Water collection responsibility within the household Percentage of female Percentage of children Village Percentage of male participation Main ethnic groups participation participation DAKPAM 3% 79% 14% Talieng DAKTRING 0% 75% 25% Ye TANGPEUANG 7% 75% 18% Taliou DAKCHUNG Total 2% 77% 21% DEANG 36% 45% 19% Katu PAKXAI 28% 42% 30% Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 32% 44% 24%
Sample Total 14% 64% 22%
The male participation has been found to be relatively limited (14%).
Adult females are mainly (64%) carrying out the task of Adult female fetching water with the help of the children (22%). 64% In the average sample household, the women carry back Children home 32 litres per day and walk a 2.5-kilometre Adult male 22% distance, when children carry back about 11 litres per 14% day and walk a 900-metre distance. As for the men, they carry back 7 litres per day and walk about 550 metres, on average. See also the chapter 3.7 “Transport pattern summary”, to compare “water” with other activities.
Page63 e 3.4 Upland rice transport (Rai)
In each pilot village, participatory meetings have been conducted in order to ask the villagers about their day-to-day activity movements in and around the village and travel habits, main destinations outside, frequencies and travel times32. The outputs of that exercise are called mobility maps. According to the mobility map data, frequencies of trips to the upland rice fields have been assumed to be 1 trip per day, during the cultivation period. Farm and non-farm activity calendars were established with the sample households, and those findings provided the necessary information about upland rice cultivation period within a year. Table 66: Household Efforts in upland rice transport per day Time per Number of trips Number of Distance per Household per day Average travel time Village per household per Kilograms per Household per day (hours) to go (minutes) Main ethnic groups day Household per day (kilometres)
DAKPAM 0.8 1h50 0.5 7.4 66 Talieng DAKTRING 0.9 3h30 1.9 14.2 120 Ye TANGPEUANG 0.1 0h25 0.09 1.6 15 Taliou DAKCHUNG TOTAL 0.6 1h56 0.8 7.8 93 DEANG 0.8 1h00 1.6 4.1 40 Katu PAKXAI 0.8 1h37 1.9 6.5 62 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM TOTAL 0.8 1h20 1.6 5.3 51
SAMPLE TOTAL 0.7 1h41 1.09 6.8 73
If we consider only the households cultivating upland rice, on average, the sample households are about 73 minutes from their upland field, which can be converted into a distance of about 5 kilometres. It ranges from 1 kilometre in Tangpeuang village to up to 8 kilometres in Dak Tring village. The load-carrying activity that has been taken into consideration for upland rice transport is the transfer of seeds from the house to the field, and the harvest back to the house. Those paddy-carrying activities are carried out in a relatively short period, however, even if it represents a substantial amount in itself, when it is divided up over a year, it constitutes a small amount, about 1 KG per day on average. Table 67: upland rice responsibility within the household Percentage Percentage of Cultivation The adult male and adult female Village of male female period Main ethnic groups participation has been found fairly balanced. participation participation (months) The average duration of upland rice DAKPAM 50% 50% 10 cultivation is about 10 months. Talieng DAKTRING 50% 50% 11 Ye TANGPEUANG - - 10 Taliou DAKCHUNG Adult male Total 50% 50% 10 52% Adult female 48% DEANG 54% 46% 10 Katu PAKXAI 52% 48% 10 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM Total 53% 48% 10
Sample Total 52% 48% 10 See also the chapter “Transport pattern summary”, to compare “upland rice transport” with other activities.
32 People find it difficult to estimate distances. We therefore asked “how long to get there” since time is easier to estimate. This time was then converted to distance of travel, considering an average speed on foot of 4km/h. Page64 e 3.5 Lowland rice transport (Naa)
In each pilot village, participatory meetings have been conducted in order to ask the villagers about their day-to-day activity movements in and around the village and travel habits, main destinations outside, frequencies and travel times33. The outputs of that exercise are called mobility maps. According to the mobility map data, frequencies of trips to the upland rice fields have been assumed to be 1 trip per day during the cultivation period. Farm and non-farm activity calendars were established with the sample households, and those findings provided the necessary information about lowland rice cultivation period within a year.
Table 68: Household Efforts in lowland rice transport per day
Time per Number of trips Number of Distance per Household per day Average travel time Village per household per Kilograms per Household per day (hours) to go (minutes) Main ethnic groups day Household per day (kilometres)
DAKPAM 0.5 1h 20 0 5 70 Talieng DAKTRING 0 0h 0 0 - Ye TANGPEUANG 0.8 0h 30 0.8 2 17 Taliou DAKCHUNG TOTAL 0.5 0h 40 0.3 2.3 38 DEANG 0 0 0 0 - Katu PAKXAI 0 0 0 0 - Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM TOTAL 0 0 0 0 -
SAMPLE TOTAL 0.3 0h 20 0.3 1.4 -
If we consider only the households cultivating lowland rice, on average, the sample households are about 38 minutes from their lowland field, which can be converted into a distance of about 2.5 kilometres. It ranges from 1 kilometre in Tangpeuang village to up to 5 kilometres in Dak Pam village. The load-carrying activity that has been taken into consideration for lowland rice transport is the transfer of seeds from the house to the field, and the harvest back to the house. Those paddy-carrying activities are carried out in a relatively short period. However, even if it represents a substantial amount in itself, when it is divided up over a year, it constitutes a small amount, about 0.3 KG per day on average.
The adult male and adult female participation has been found balanced. The average duration of lowland rice cultivation is about 10 months.
33 People find it difficult to estimate distances. We therefore asked “how long to get there” since time is easier to estimate. This time was then converted to distance of travel, considering an average speed on foot of 4km/h. Page65 e First and second main crops other than rice transport
The first and second main crops other than rice are cassava and maize with 97% of the sample households cultivating cassava and with 95% of the sample households cultivating maize.
In each pilot village, participatory meetings have been conducted in order to ask the villagers about their day-to-day activity movements in and around the village and travel habits, main destinations outside, frequencies and travel times34. The outputs of that exercise are called mobility maps. According to the mobility map data, frequencies of trips to the first and second main crop fields have been assumed to be 1 trip per day during the cultivation period. Farm and non-farm activity calendars were established with the sample households, and those findings provided the necessary information about first and second main crop other than rice cultivation period within a year.
Table 69: Household Efforts in first and second main crop other than rice transport per day
Time per Number of trips Number of Distance per Household per day Average travel time Village per household per Kilograms per Household per day (hours) to go (minutes) Main ethnic groups day Household per day (kilometres)
DAKPAM 1.0 2h 20 2 7 115 Talieng DAKTRING 0.8 1h 10 2 5 82 Ye TANGPEUANG 1.0 1h 50 3 7 115 Taliou DAKCHUNG TOTAL 0.9 1h 30 2.5 6.5 104
DEANG 0.9 1h 00 5 4 79 Katu PAKXAI 0.9 2h 00 3 8 121 Taoy / Katu / Nge KALUM TOTAL 0.9 1h 30 4 6 100
SAMPLE TOTAL 0.9 1h 30 3 6.3 103
On average, the sample households are about 45 minutes from their first and second main crop other than rice fields and per day, make about 1trip, carry around 3 kilograms of load and cover a total distance Adult female of 6 kilometres. Adult male 57% The distances covered, range from 4 kilometres in 43% Deang village to 8 kilometres in Pakxai.
The adult male and adult female participation has been found slightly unbalanced, in favour of females with an estimated male / female ratio of 43/57.
34 People find it difficult to estimate distances. We therefore asked “how long to get there” since time is easier to estimate. This time was then converted to distance of travel, considering an average speed on foot of 4km/h. Page66 e 3.7 Transport pattern per annum
This chapter assembles the data on transport characteristics of travel to different places, and for different purposes, in order to examine the overall travel patterns of the sample households, considering a year as period of reference. It has been realised by adding up main personal travels and main load-carrying trips over a year period in order to compare them, and figure out their relative importance in the every day life of the households.
The activities taken into consideration for the transport pattern study are the following:
1. Firewood 2. Building material 3. Water 4. Upland rice (Rai) 5. Low land rice (Naa) 6. Other main crops 7. Education 8. Health 9. Market
For the purpose of the overall analysis, travel patterns have been analysed in terms of:
¨ Number of trips per household per annum: for each activity listed above, the total number of round trips per household per year is calculated.
¨ Time per household per annum: For each activity listed above, we accumulate the data to estimate the time spent on transport and the result is the travel time only35.
¨ Distance per annum: For each activity listed above, we consider the time per household per annum spent, which is converted into distances covered per household per annum, considering the average speed on foot of 4km/h.
¨ Tonne per household per annum: For each load-carrying activity listed above, the total weight of goods moved per household per annum has been summed up.
¨ Tonne.km per household per annum: Tonne.km is the standard method of expressing the magnitude of any load carrying transport activity. 1 tonne.km is the transport effort involved in the movement of a 1 tonne load over a distance of 1 kilometre36. For personal trips made on foot, there is a physical effort involved in walking. However, this has not been calculated, only the load- carrying effort is estimated.
35 e.g. It includes the time spent travelling from the house to the source of water and the time spent to go back to the house, but NOT the time spent at the water source. 36 Thus if a transport activity involving the movement of a 25 kg load over a distance of 5 km is repeated 100 times during a year, the total transport effort is calculated as: (25/1000) X 5 X 100 =12.5 tonne.km per annum. Page67 e These allow a picture of the overall travel patterns of the sample households to be developed. Some activities, such as trips to markets, or travel to hospital, do not involve significant load carrying, therefore it is the time devoted to the task which is of key importance. Other activities, for example firewood collection or water collection do involve significant load carrying. For those activities, the magnitude of the transport is measured in terms of time and/or distance, of the weight of goods moved in tonnes, and of load-carrying effort (expressed in tonne.km) involved.
SIP-DEV / IRAP team conducting the water survey
It is also important to note that, given the nature of any interview and data collection, and the need to make certain assumptions in analysing the data, there is inevitably a margin of error in the figures presented. The figures should not be regarded as precise quantitative data, but rather as indicating the magnitude and significance of transport in daily life and the characteristics and relative importance of different transport activities of the households.
Page68 e 3.7.1 Number of trips per annum
The table 70 presents the average number of trips per main transport activity per household per annum.
Table 70: Number of trips per annum Number of trips per household per annum
Village Building Other Main ethnic groups Firewood Water Upland Low land material main Education Health Market collection collection rice (Rai) rice (Naa) collection crops
DAKPAM 624 23 1825 305 205 385 61 2 9 (Talieng) DAKTRING 654 2 2555 325 0 300 182 3 10 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 380 9 1947 50 300 360 32 1 3 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 553 11 2126 227 168 348 91 2 7 DEANG 411 20 1947 295 0 315 1 1 9 (Katu) PAKXAI 602 7 1703 285 0 335 0 1 10 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 506 14 1825 290 0 326 1 1 10
SAMPLE TOTAL 534 12 2001 255 101 339 55 1 8
Table 70 suggests that water collection accounts for 60% of trips made by households per annum. A reason why households are forced to make numerous daily trips to collect water could be the lack of larger sized water containers. For example, a distribution of 10-litre buckets could improve significantly the life of households by permitting the reduction of water collection trips. Firewood represents 16% of trips made by the households per annum. The agricultural field trips accounts for 21% of trips made by households per annum.
School Main Crop 2% Firewood 10% 16%
Rice 11%
Water 61% Firewood Building Materials Water Rice Main Crop School Hospital Market
Page69 e 3.7.2 Time per annum The table 71 presents the average time spent in main transport activities per household per annum.
Table 71: Time per annum. Time spent on transport per household per annum (hours)
Village Building Other Main ethnic groups Firewood Water Upland Low land material main Education Health Market collection collection rice (Rai) rice (Naa) collection crops
DAKPAM 1125 60 304 673 460 867 6 6 23 (Talieng) DAKTRING 1916 19 475 1300 0 451 28 15 117 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 639 17 243 150 172 665 123 11 59 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 1227 32 343 708 211 528 52 11 66 DEANG 459 50 288 374 0 371 11 4 155 (Katu) PAKXAI 1630 39 387 590 0 713 0 2 103 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 1045 45 338 482 0 542 5 3 129
SAMPLE TOTAL 1154 37 341 618 126 576 34 8 91
Firewood accounts for 40% of the total time spent on transport activities per household per annum. It adds up to nearly 1200 Hours per household per annum. The second most important activities in terms of time spent are related to the displacements to agricultural fields, rice first with 25% of the total and about 750 hours, then other crops like cassava and maize with 19% and 580 hours. Ranked fourth, water collection time represents 11% of the total time spent on transport activities per household per annum with 340 hours.
3.7.3 Distance per annum The table 72 presents the average distance covered in main transport activities per household per annum.
Table 72: Distance per annum. Distance covered per household per annum (Kilometres)
Village Building Other Main ethnic groups Firewood Water Upland Low land material main Education Health Market collection collection rice (Rai) rice (Naa) collection crops
DAKPAM 4500 239 1217 2693 1840 2726 24 22 93 (Talieng) DAKTRING 7665 76 1898 5200 0 1803 113 59 468 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 2555 68 973 600 687 2657 492 45 235 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 4910 128 1371 2831 842 2395 210 42 265 DEANG 1840 198 1152 1497 0 1486 43 16 618 (Katu) PAKXAI 6520 158 1549 2360 0 2850 0 8 413 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 4180 178 1350 1928 0 2069 21 12 516
SAMPLE TOTAL 4616 148 1363 2470 505 2304 134 30 365
Page70 e Firewood accounts for 40% of the total distance covered on transport activities per household per annum. It adds up to 4600 kilometres per household per annum. The second most important activities in terms of distance covered are related to the displacements to agricultural fields, rice first with 25% of the total and 3000 km, then other crops like cassava and maize with 19% with 2300 km. Ranked fourth, water collection distance represents 11% of the total distance covered on transport activities per household per annum with about 1400 km.
School Market 1% 3% Main Crop 19% Firewood 40%
Rice 25%
Building Materials Water 1% 11% Firewood Building Materials Water Rice Main Crop School Hospital Market
Page71 e 3.7.4 Tonnes per annum
The table 73 presents the average weight carried per household per annum.
Table 73: Tonnes per annum. Load carried per household per annum (Tonnes)
Village Building Main ethnic groups Firewood Upland rice Low land rice Other main material Water collection collection (Rai) (Naa) crops collection
DAKPAM 12.5 0.6 17.5 0.2 0.0 0.7 (Talieng) DAKTRING 13.1 0.1 22.1 0.7 0.0 0.7 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 7.6 0.4 18.4 0.03 0.3 1.1 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 11.1 0.3 19.5 0.3 0.1 0.9 DEANG 8.2 0.6 17.6 0.6 0 2 (Katu) PAKXAI 12 0.2 15.8 0.7 0 1 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 10.1 0.4 16.7 0.6 0 1.5
SAMPLE TOTAL 10.7 0.4 18.3 0.4 0.1 1.1
Water collection accounts for nearly 60% of the total weight carried on transport activities per household per annum. It adds up to 18 tonnes per household per annum. The second most important activity in terms of weight carried is firewood collection, representing 35%, with almost 11 tonnes carried per household per annum. All the other activities are not significant compared with water and firewood collection, with perhaps the exception of other main crop harvest carrying, that sums up over 1 tonne.
Building Materials Water 1% 58%
Firewood 35%
Main Crop Rice 4% 2% Firewood Building Materials Water Rice Main Crop School Hospital Market
Page72 e 3.7.5 Tonne.kilometre per annum
The table 74 presents the average tonne.km in main transport activities per household per annum.
Table 74: Tonne.kilometre per annum. Tonne.kilometre per household per annum
Village Building Main ethnic groups Firewood Upland rice Low land rice Other main material Water collection collection (Rai) (Naa) crops collection
DAKPAM 45 5 5.8 0.7 0.0 4.6 (Talieng) DAKTRING 77 1 8.2 5.9 0.0 1.1 (Ye) TANGPEUANG 26 2 4.8 0.2 0.2 3.1 (Taliou) DAKCHUNG TOTAL 49 3 6.3 2.3 0.1 2.9 DEANG 18 3 5.1 1 0 5.2 (Katu) PAKXAI 65 3 7 2.7 0 3.9 (Taoy/Katu/Nge) KALUM TOTAL 42 3 6 1.8 0 4.5
SAMPLE TOTAL 46 3 6.2 2.1 0.1 3.6
Firewood collection accounts for nearly 75% of the total load-carrying effort put in by the sample households on transport activities per annum, with 46 tonne.km. Far behind, the second most important activity in terms of load-carrying effort is water collection, representing 10% of the total, with 6.2 tonne.km per household per annum. The third most important activity accounts for 6% and adds up to 3.6 tonne.km with the other crop harvest carrying effort .
Main Crop Rice 6% 4% Water 10%
Building Materials 5%
Firewood 75%
Firewood Building Materials Water Rice Main Crop
Page73 e 3.7.6 Overview Histogram
The transport burden of the sample households, given that travel is exclusively on foot, is considerable. The average household makes about 9 trips per day. Its transport activities occupy about 3000 hours per annum or 57 hours per week (equivalent to a full-time job, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for one person), or, in other words, totalize a distance of about 12 000 kilometres per annum, which is approximately 7 round trips Sekong-Vientiane. Moreover, the sample households transport activities involve a load-carrying effort of 61 Tonne.km per annum. The average household moves a total weight of 31 tonnes per annum.
Water collection accounts for over 60% of trips made by households, and nearly 60% of the total weight moved, with more than 18 tonnes, although it represents only 10% of the load-carrying effort of households per annum. As opposed to water, firewood collection accounts for only 16% of trips made by households per annum and represents 35% of the total weight moved, which adds up to 10 tonnes, with less frequent trips and much longer distances. As a result, in terms of load-carrying effort, firewood is clearly the most tiring activity that accounts for 75% of the total load-carrying effort put in by the households per annum and reaches a total of 46 tonne.km, in contrast with water that adds up to a total effort of only 6.2 tonne.km.
In terms of time spent by households in transport activities, firewood collection constitutes the most time-consuming activity with 39% of the total time spent on transport. However, if we group rice and other crop field transports into a broader category, that could be called “agricultural activity transport”, then we realize that the displacements between the fields and the house represent 44% of the total time spent on transport by households per annum.
In the context of shifting cultivation, every year, the households look for new parcels of dense forest for slashing and burning, since they can plant rice only one year on the same plot of land with the expectation of satisfactory harvest. They usually begin with parcels nearby, around the village, and years after years they have to cultivate remoter and remoter fields. It depends on the fallow period, on average 13 years among sample households, the time elapsed before being able to cultivate the same land again. Walking to the fields can become such a burden, that the villagers often build a small house amidst their field or sometime prefer the worries and effort of moving the entire village a few kilometers closer to the crop location.
That considerable time spent on transport to the fields is undoubtedly an obstacle for the villagers in getting involved in other income generating activities and improving their living conditions.
Page74 e Pattern of transport activities in an average household of the sample (EXCEL CHART)
Page75 e 4. Daily and seasonal activities
Seasonal Activity Calendar
% adult % adult Gender participation Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec males females Non farm activities Weaving 0% 100% Rice table making 100% 0% Mat making 33% 67% Basketry 88% 12% Hunting 100% 0% Gold panning 60% 40% Fishing 88% 12% Casual labour 90% 10% Blacksmith 100% 0% Alcohol making 20% 80% House repairing 54% 46% Construction 55% 45% Celebration 50% 50% Potery and jar making N.A. N.A. Agricultural activities Upland rice Clearing land 54% 50% Cultivating 50% 50% Fencing 50% 50% Weeding 50% 50% Protecting 50% 50% Harvesting 50% 50% Lowland rice Clearing land 50% 50% Digging 50% 50% Fencing 50% 50% Planting 50% 50% Weeding 50% 50% Protecting 50% 50% Harvesting 50% 50% Cassava Clearing land 46% 54% Cultivating 46% 54% Weeding 46% 54% Harvesting 36% 64% Maize Clearing land 37% 63% Cultivating 44% 56% Fencing N.A. N.A. Weeding 50% 50% Harvesting 33% 67% Sweet potato Clearing land 50% 50% Cultivating 37% 63% Weeding 50% 50% Harvesting 32% 68% Taro Clearing land 50% 50% Cultivating 46% 54% Weeding 50% 50% Harvesting 32% 68% Page76 e Daily activity Calendar (EXCEL CHART)
Page77 e 4. Gender Main households’ activity gender participation
Gender participation Adult males Adult females
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Transport activities Water collection Firewood collection Building material collection Non farm activities Weaving Rice table making Mat making Basketry Hunting Gold panning Fishing Casual labour Blacksmith Alcohol making House repairing Construction Celebration Potery and jar making Crop marketing Non-farm produce marketing Long distance marketing Agricultural activities Upland rice Clearing land Cultivating Fencing Weeding Protecting Harvesting Lowland rice Clearing land Digging Fencing Planting Weeding Protecting Harvesting Cassava Clearing land Cultivating Weeding Harvesting Maize Clearing land Cultivating Fencing Weeding Harvesting Sweet potato Clearing land Cultivating Weeding Harvesting Taro Clearing land Cultivating Weeding Harvesting
Page78 e Page79 e Page80 e