Bottom-up land use planning for equitable rural development in Lao PDR

Abstract

In the uplands of Laos, high poverty and insecure land tenure prevail. At the same time, traditional agriculture is being rapidly transformed into large-scale operations for commodity production and resource extraction. In this context, how can equitable economic development be achieved that both benefits family farmers and protects the environment? The participatory land use planning approach developed and implemented by the Agro-Biodiversity Initiative lays the foundations.