IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v89y2017icp170-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contradictory Land Use Plans and Policies in Laos: Tenure Security and the Threat of Exclusion

Author

Listed:
  • Broegaard, Rikke Brandt
  • Vongvisouk, Thoumthone
  • Mertz, Ole

Abstract

Contradicting policies and overlapping property arrangements are common in many countries, opening doors for diverse interpretations by different actors. This requires better knowledge on how competing interests and actors interact and what determines the practical competition outcomes as demand for land intensifies and international actors get increasingly involved in regulating natural resources. Land use planning in Laos provides a case in point as it aims at strengthening tenure security, intensifying agriculture and sparing forest areas while other policies simultaneously promote agricultural development and agri-business investment that reconfigure land use and land access. Through national, provincial, district, village and household interviews, we examine how different land- and forest-related policies interact, and whether ongoing land use planning processes and land rights formalization increase tenure security. We show how government policies supported by international donors, and introduced to strengthen tenure rights for the rural population actually reduce villagers’ legally permitted agricultural areas. Even if district-level land use regulations do not currently exclude local communities from their land, land use plans lay the groundwork for potentially excluding villagers from large land areas. We find that plural, contradictory regulations and policies, combined with existing power inequalities result in a “filter mechanism” that reduces the practical impact of legal instruments and safeguards aimed at strengthening the least powerful actors’ rights. Our results add to other authors’ arguments that political and legal changes are mediated by power relations, cultural norms and economic incentives, by highlighting that the duel-edged rights sword may actually end up paving the way for greater state control over future benefits derived from community areas classified as forest lands. This is especially relevant when preparing REDD+, which we show is likely to weaken rather than strengthen tenure security for rural populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Broegaard, Rikke Brandt & Vongvisouk, Thoumthone & Mertz, Ole, 2017. "Contradictory Land Use Plans and Policies in Laos: Tenure Security and the Threat of Exclusion," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 170-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:89:y:2017:i:c:p:170-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15304848
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Lawry & Cyrus Samii & Ruth Hall & Aaron Leopold & Donna Hornby & Farai Mtero, 2014. "The Impact of Land Property Rights Interventions on Investment and Agricultural Productivity in Developing Countries: a Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 1-104.
    2. Espen Sjaastad & Daniel W. Bromley, 2000. "The Prejudices of Property Rights: On Individualism, Specificity, and Security in Property Regimes," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 18(4), pages 365-389, December.
    3. Klaus Deininger & Derek Byerlee & Jonathan Lindsay & Andrew Norton & Harris Selod & Mercedes Stickler, 2011. "Rising Global Interest in Farmland : Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2263.
    4. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2008. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 981-1022, December.
    5. Karsenty, Alain & Ongolo, Symphorien, 2012. "Can “fragile states” decide to reduce their deforestation? The inappropriate use of the theory of incentives with respect to the REDD mechanism," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 38-45.
    6. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, 2014. "Property rights and sustainable irrigation: A developing country perspective," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 23-31.
    7. Sjaastad, Espen & Bromley, Daniel W., 1997. "Indigenous land rights in sub-Saharan Africa: Appropriation, security and investment demand," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 549-562, January.
    8. Fenske, James, 2011. "Land tenure and investment incentives: Evidence from West Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 137-156, July.
    9. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Pradhan, Rajendra, 2002. "Legal pluralism and dynamic property rights," CAPRi working papers 22, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Bouquet, Emmanuelle, 2009. "State-Led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change: Land Titles, Land Markets and Tenure Security in Mexican Communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1390-1399, August.
    11. Rupert Friederichsen & Andreas Neef, 2010. "Variations of Late Socialist Development: Integration and Marginalization in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam and Laos," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 22(4), pages 564-581, September.
    12. Naughton-Treves, Lisa & Wendland, Kelly, 2014. "Land Tenure and Tropical Forest Carbon Management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-6.
    13. Kees Jansen & Esther Roquas, 1998. "Modernizing Insecurity: The Land Titling Project in Honduras," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 81-106, January.
    14. Sikor, Thomas & Müller, Daniel, 2009. "The Limits of State-Led Land Reform: An Introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1307-1316, August.
    15. Diana Suhardiman & Mark Giordano, 2014. "Legal Plurality: An Analysis of Power Interplay in Mekong Hydropower," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 104(5), pages 973-988, September.
    16. Claudia R. Williamson & Carrie B. Kerekes, 2011. "Securing Private Property: Formal versus Informal Institutions," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(3), pages 537-572.
    17. Thanh, Tran Ngoc & Sikor, Thomas, 2006. "From legal acts to actual powers: Devolution and property rights in the Central Highlands of Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 397-408, June.
    18. World Bank, 2014. "The Practice of Responsible Investment Principles in Larger-Scale Agricultural Investments : Implications for Corporate Performance and Impact on Local Communities," World Bank Publications - Reports 18662, The World Bank Group.
    19. Sikor, Thomas & Nguyen, Tan Quang, 2007. "Why May Forest Devolution Not Benefit the Rural Poor? Forest Entitlements in Vietnam's Central Highlands," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2010-2025, November.
    20. Berry, Sara, 2009. "Building for the Future? Investment, Land Reform and the Contingencies of Ownership in Contemporary Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1370-1378, August.
    21. Helle Munk Ravnborg & Rachel Spichiger & Rikke Brandt Broegaard & Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, 2016. "Land Governance, Gender Equality and Development: Past Achievements and Remaining Challenges," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 412-427, April.
    22. Deere, Carmen Diana & Leon, Magdalena, 2003. "The Gender Asset Gap: Land in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 925-947, June.
    23. Sunderlin, William D. & Larson, Anne M. & Duchelle, Amy E. & Resosudarmo, Ida Aju Pradnja & Huynh, Thu Ba & Awono, Abdon & Dokken, Therese, 2014. "How are REDD+ Proponents Addressing Tenure Problems? Evidence from Brazil, Cameroon, Tanzania, Indonesia, and Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 37-52.
    24. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Michael B. Dwyer, 2013. "Building the Politics Machine: Tools for ‘Resolving’ the Global Land Grab," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 309-333, March.
    25. Place, Frank, 2009. "Land Tenure and Agricultural Productivity in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Economics Literature and Recent Policy Strategies and Reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1326-1336, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Suhardiman, Diana & Keovilignavong, Oulavanh & Kenney-Lazar, Miles, 2019. "The territorial politics of land use planning in Laos," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 346-356.
    2. Mertz, Ole & Mertens, Charlotte Filt, 2017. "Land Sparing and Land Sharing Policies in Developing Countries – Drivers and Linkages to Scientific Debates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 523-535.
    3. Suhardiman, Diana & Scurrah, Natalia, 2021. "Institutional bricolage and the (Re)shaping of communal land tenure arrangements: Two contrasting cases in upland and lowland Northeastern Laos," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Pagdee, Adcharaporn & Kawasaki, Jintana, 2021. "The importance of community perceptions and capacity building in payment for ecosystems services: A case study at Phu Kao, Thailand," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    5. Fatema, Naureen, 2019. "Can land title reduce low-intensity interhousehold conflict incidences and associated damages in eastern DRC?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Dadashpoor, Hashem & Ahani, Somayeh, 2019. "Land tenure-related conflicts in peri-urban areas: A review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 218-229.
    7. Wong, Grace Y. & Holm, Minda & Pietarinen, Niina & Ville, Alizee & Brockhaus, Maria, 2022. "The making of resource frontier spaces in the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia: A critical analysis of narratives, actors and drivers in the scientific literature," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    8. Monica Lengoiboni & Christine Richter & Paul van Asperen & Jaap Zevenbergen, 2021. "Initial Insights on Land Adjudication in a Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Ramcilovic-Suominen, Sabaheta & Kotilainen, Juha, 2020. "Power relations in community resilience and politics of shifting cultivation in Laos," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Broegaard, Rikke Brandt & Rasmussen, Laura Vang & Dawson, Neil & Mertz, Ole & Vongvisouk, Thoumthone & Grogan, Kenneth, 2017. "Wild food collection and nutrition under commercial agriculture expansion in agriculture-forest landscapes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 92-101.
    11. Rakatama, Ari & Pandit, Ram & Iftekhar, Sayed & Ma, Chunbo, 2018. "Heterogeneous public preference for REDD+ projects under different forest management regimes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 266-277.
    12. Ramcilovic-Suominen, Sabaheta & Lovric, Marko & Mustalahti, Irmeli, 2019. "Mapping policy actor networks and their interests in the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement in Lao PDR," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 128-148.
    13. Bauernschuster, Sonja & Pichler, Melanie & Ingalls, Micah & Thongmanivong, Sithong & Gingrich, Simone, 2022. "Discursive and biophysical dimensions of land sparing policies in Laos: Implications for greenhouse gas emissions and food security," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    14. Rakatama, Ari & Pandit, Ram & Iftekhar, Sayed & Ma, Chunbo, 2018. "How to design more effective REDD+ projects – The importance of targeted approach in Indonesia," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 25-32.
    15. Suhardiman, Diana & Scurrah, Natalia, 2021. "Farmer’s agency and institutional bricolage in land use plan implementation in upland Laos," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    2. Asaaga, Festus A. & Hirons, Mark A. & Malhi, Yadvinder, 2020. "Questioning the link between tenure security and sustainable land management in cocoa landscapes in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    3. Daniel Ayalew Ali & Klaus Deininger & Markus Goldstein, 2011. "Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa," World Bank Other Operational Studies 25527, The World Bank.
    4. Muna Shifa & Murray Leibbrandt & Martin Wittenberg, 2015. "Does tenure insecurity explain the variations in land-related investment decisions in rural Ethiopia?," SALDRU Working Papers 150, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    5. Deininger, Klaus & Hilhorst, Thea & Songwe, Vera, 2014. "Identifying and addressing land governance constraints to support intensification and land market operation: Evidence from 10 African countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 76-87.
    6. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    7. Gottlieb, Charles & Grobovšek, Jan, 2019. "Communal land and agricultural productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 135-152.
    8. Bambio, Yiriyibin & Bouayad Agha, Salima, 2018. "Land tenure security and investment: Does strength of land right really matter in rural Burkina Faso?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 130-147.
    9. Holden, Stein T. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2014. "The roles of land tenure reforms and land markets in the context of population growth and land use intensification in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 88-97.
    10. Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw, 2023. "Analysis of the Contribution of Land Registration to Sustainable Land Management in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, May.
    11. Koroso, Nesru H. & Zevenbergen, Jaap A. & Lengoiboni, Monica, 2019. "Land institutions’ credibility: Analyzing the role of complementary institutions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 553-564.
    12. Alain Desdoigts & Hugues Kouassi Kouadio, 2013. "Deforestation, Migration, Land Appropriation and Reforms: Rural resilience against the backdrop of the Malthusian crisis in Ivory Coast," Erudite Working Paper 2013-01, Erudite.
    13. Akhmadiyeva, Zarema & Herzfeld, Thomas, 2021. "How does practice matches land laws in Central Asia?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Ghebru, Hosaena & Girmachew , Fikirte, 2017. "Scrutinizing The Status Quo: Rural Transformation And Land Tenure Security In Nigeria," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 264394, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    15. Ho, Hoang-Anh, 2021. "Land tenure and economic development: Evidence from Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Qian, Chen & Antonides, Gerrit & Heerink, Nico & Zhu, Xueqin & Ma, Xianlei, 2022. "An economic-psychological perspective on perceived land tenure security: Evidence from rural eastern China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    17. Huntington, Heather & Stevens, Caleb, 2023. "Taking stock of global land indicators: A comparative analysis of approaches for a globally consistent land tenure security measure," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Stéphane Korsaga, 2018. "Land Tenure Security, Land-Related Investments and Agricultural Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Efficiency or Equity? A Microeconomic Analysis Applied to the Case of Burkina Faso," Working Papers halshs-01699118, HAL.
    19. KOUADIO, Hugues & DESDOIGTS, Alain, 2012. "Déforestation, migrations, saturation et réformes foncières: La Côte d’Ivoire entre résilience rurale et litiges fonciers [Deforestation, migration, saturation and land reforms: Côte d'Ivoire betwe," MPRA Paper 49938, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Ghebru, Hosaena & Khan, Huma & Lambrecht, Isabel, 2016. "Perceived land tenure security and rural transformation: Empirical evidence from Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1545, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:89:y:2017:i:c:p:170-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.