Universidad de Murcia Escuela Internacional de Doctorado Communal Land Tenure A Social Anthropological Study in Laos Tierras Comunales Un Estudio socioantropológico en Laos Luck Bounmixay 2015 Communal Land Tenure A Social Anthropological Study in Laos Tierras Comunales Un Estudio socioantropológico en Laos Luck Bounmixay A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Social Anthropology Faculty of Philosophy, University of Murcia, Spain Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Klaus Schriewer Co-Thesis Advisor: Dr. Salvador Cayuela Sánchez May 2015 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To my experience, doing a doctoral research is like travelling a tough journey. For times, I have felt as if I am in the dark on my own and found it hard to see way out but many people have patiently shaded me light making it possible for me to continue. This journey though is tough is a pleasant one so I would like to forward my gratitude thanks to those who helped me in carrying out my study. I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. Klaus Schriewer, my research supervisor, for his patient guidance over the time of my research. He has generously assisted me on various academic issues, from introducing writing structure to patiently commending on countless drafts until the final one. His constructive critiques and enthusiastic encouragement made me eager to continue my work whenever I struggle. My sincere gratitite also goes to Dr. Salvador Cayuela Sánchez who is a co-adviser with Schriewer. May I offer special thanks to Kirsten Ever Anderson, a volunteer supervisor. She gives me intellectual support, from introducing me to various readings and sharing with me related perspectives on the project and supporting me in writing. I am also grateful to the governmental representatives from LMA, LFNC, AFO, PAO, and LMA in central, province and districts (Viengxay, Sopbao and Xum-Nue) of Houaphan for their support with the data collection during my field visists. The village leaders, villagers, and families of both Hmong and Tai Daeng where my field research took place allowed me to explore their real life experiences and were wonderful hosts while I stayed in their villages and homes. Thank you very much. I wish to acknowledge the opportunity given to me by international NGOS (LIWG, SNV and GRET, IFAD) to learn from their project work through attending their discussions/workshops and visits to villages. Finally, without scholarship, it would be impossible for me to self-finance my study in Spain so I am particularly grateful for the support from Erasmus Mundas. Thank you iii the staff from the Department of Philosophy as well as International Relations staff from the University of Murcia for all their assistance. At last but not the least, I wish to thank all my former colleagues and friends especially James Ma and Guiiermo Martin Martinez for their contribution to my research. Thank you my family members especially my parents, siblings, husband and son for always lightening up my darkest day and encouraging me throughout my journey. Again, it is only with all the mentioned support that I was able to complete this doctorate thesis. I am indebted to them most for giving me incredible strengths and abilities. I dedicate this thesis to them. Thank you! iv LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BHPG Bamboo Handicraft Producer Groups CANSA Conservation Agriculture Network for South East Asia CDE Centre for Development and Environment CFSVA Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis CFSVA Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis DGRV Cooperative Federation for German Cooperatives CLTs Communal Land Titles CPRs Commom Pool Resources CPI Consumer Price Index DLMA District Land Management Authority DoL Department of Land EMCNA Ethnic Minorities Committee of the National Assembly FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FDI Foreign Direct Investment FDI Foreign Direct Investment GDG Gender Development Groups GDP Gross Development Products GoL Government of Laos GRET Bamboo Development Project GRID Gender Resource and Development Centre GTZ Lao-German Land Policy Development Project HDI Human Development Index HDI Human Development Index ID Identy IFAD International Fund or Agricultural Development IRD Institut de Recherche pour le Développement land LA Land Allocation Lao PDR Lao People's Democratic Repbublic LDC Leased Developed Countries v LFNC Lao Front for National Construction LFNC Lao Front for National Construction LIWGs Land Issues Working Groups LMA Land Management Authority LSUAFRP Lao Swedish Upland Agriculture and Forestry Research Programme LUP Land Use Planning MAF Ministry of Agrculture and Forestry MDG Millenium Development Goals MDG Millennium Development Goal MIC Ministry of Information and Culture MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MPI Minister of Planning and Investment NA National Assembly NAFRI National Forestry Research Institute NLMA National Land Management Authority NLRRIC Natural Land and Resources Research and Information Center NRE Natural Resource and Environment NSEDP National Social-Economic Development Plan NT2 Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project NTFPs Non-timber forest products NUOL National University of Laos ONDA Oversea Development Assistance PAFO Province Agriculture and Forestry Office PAO Provincial Administrative Office PLUP Participatory Agriculture and Forest Land Use Planning PONRE Province Office of Natural Resources and Environment PPA Participatory Poverty Assessment R&R Rules and Regulations REDD Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation SNV Netherland Development Agency SUFORD Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development vi UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime VECO Vredeseilanden VFA Village Forestry Association VFMP Village Forest Management Plan VLUs Village Land Units VPF Village Production Forest VUF Village Use Forest WFP World Food Program WWF World Wide Fund vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS v INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 9 CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 11 1. Theory on common property 11 2. Life-mode analysis 22 CHAPTER III. STATE OF THE ART 30 1. Geography, seasons and climate, natural resources and economy 30 2. State and political system 33 3. Ethnic groups 36 3.1. Hmong 42 3.2. Tai Daeng 48 4. Poverty issues 50 5. Forest and land use 62 6. Two modes of agricultural production and Government policy on 65 eradication of shifting cultivation 6.1. Shifting cultivation and rain-fed upland swidden (hed hai) 66 6.2. Irrigated agriculture or irrigated rice production (hed na) 81 7. Implementation of different initiatives by the government on land use 89 planning and land allocation (LUP LA) 7.1. Implementation of Forest and Land Law 90 7.2. Land use planning and land allocation (LUP LA) 90 7.3. Participatory land use planning and land allocation (PLUP LA): a 92 new version of LUP LA 7.4. Handbook and toolbox for PLUP 93 7.5. Legal land documents 95 8. Foreign direct investment (FDI) 98 8.1. Concession 98 vi 8.2. Contract farming 114 8.3. Farmer cooperatives 119 9. Land use issue in some Asian countries 121 10. Perception towards communal land tenure and customary tenure in 132 Houaphan CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES 135 CHAPTER V. PRESENTATION OF FIELD WORK FINDINGS 156 1. Houaphan province 156 1.1. General introduction 156 1.2. The landscape 160 1.3. Legal status and traditional use of communal land tenure 164 1.4. Legal forest and land management 167 1.5. Interrelations between official administrations and informal 176 institutions in the use of common property 2. Communal land and rice production 187 2.1. The villages’ statutes and internal rules on communal property 187 management 2.2. Determination of villagers as right holders 191 2.3. Arrangement of tenure in communal paddy land in the lowlands 197 2.4. Terminology that Tai Daeng and Hmong used to describe communal 199 paddy land 2.5. Sharing communal paddy land (din na louam) of Tai Daeng 202 2.6. Circle of annual sharing communal paddy land of Tai Daeng 213 2.7. Sharing of communal paddy land of Hmong 215 2.8. Sharing of land in the uplands 221 2.9. Sharing responsibility 224 2.10. Cultivation of agricultural rice crops in paddy land in the lowlands 236 (hed na) 2.11. Seasonal rights to CPR within paddy land tenure 248 2.12. Shifting cultivation or rice production in the upland (hed hai) 250 2.13. Claims in land in the lowlands and uplands as part of CPR 259 3. An analysis of communal property resources (CPR) 275 vii 4. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) 280 5. Access to social and economic connections 303 6. Tax/land use fee collection 312 7. Free-riding 314 8. Conflict and conflict resolution 316 9. Communal land registration process 329 10. Pilot communal/collective land title (CLT) 334 CONCLUSION 354 REFERENCES 357 A LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1. Percentage of Poverty Evidence by Ethnic Language Categories 52 Chart 2. Conditions of rice land distribution in a Tai ‘‘Daeng village 212 applied to the family X with six labors (producers and consumers) A LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1. Political structure of Department of Land (DoL) 35 Figure 2. Presenation of the Bureaucratic Process as a Requirement from 138 the Government to carry out Field Study in Laos Figure 3. An illustration of making fence for rotational rice production and 231 animal grazing land in Hmong village in a three year period, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Figure 4. Conflict resolution in visited Hmong and Tai Daeng villages 328 A LIST OF MAPS Map 1. Map of the Lao PDR 29 Map 2. Seventy-two districts identified by the Lao government as poor 55 Map 3. Administrative map of Houaphan province 153 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Eight principles for a CPR situation 14 Table 2.