Agricultural Modernization and Rural Livelihoods in Rice Farming Villages of Laos

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Kansai University Faculty of Economics Working Paper Series F-72
This is a Working Paper which was eventually accepted as an article published by
Taylor & Francis in Canadian Journal of Development Studies on January 11,
2017, available online:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02255189.2017.1263553
Agricultural Modernization and Rural Livelihoods in
Rice Farming Villages of Laos
Kenta Goto
Professor, Faculty of Economics, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan.
gotoken@kansai-u.ac.jp (corresponding author)
Bounlouane Douangngeune
Professor, Laos-Japan Human Resource Development
Institute,National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
dbounlouane@gmail.com

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Agricultural Modernization and Rural Livelihoods in Rice Farming Villages of
Laos
Kenta Goto
Professor, Faculty of Economics, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan.
gotoken@kansai-u.ac.jp (corresponding author)
Bounlouane Douangngeune
Professor, Laos-Japan Human Resource Development Institute, National University of
Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
dbounlouane@gmail.com
Abstract
This paper looks at how rice cultivating households in Laos have been affected by policies
to transform and upgrade the subsistent oriented sector into a dynamic and competitive
one through intensification and commercialization, and how livelihood strategies of these
households in turn have affected such modernization goals set by the government.
While overall rice output has grown significantly over the past few decades, market
institutions pertinent to the rice sector remain critically weak, constraining
modernization in the rice sector. Contract farming has been promoted within this context,
which have led to some positive results for participating households. There has been,
however, no significant evidence of a full-fledged sectoral transformation. This could be
due to pervasive coordination failures amidst imperfect market institutions, providing
disincentives to farmers to commit themselves to livelihood strategies based on such
modernized rice cultivation practices.
1. Introduction
Agriculture in developing countries remains important from both a value added and
livelihood perspective, and governments often attempt to upgrade this sector into a more
dynamic and competitive one as a key component of its national development strategy.
Archetypal measures include commercialization through liberalization policies, as well
as intensification through diffusion of advanced agricultural practices and large-scale
irrigation investment projects. Government policies extend also more indirectly by
encouraging private sector involvement in forms such as contract farming. Given this,
this paper looks at how livelihood strategies of largely subsistence based agricultural

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households in developing countries have been affected by such policies, and how this in
turn is affecting these development goals. This paper will in particular focus on rice
growing households in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), where such
development goals are articulated in major policy documents in precisely these terms
(MAF, 2010).
Laos is a small, landlocked country in continental Southeast Asia with a population of
about 6.5 million in 2012 (LSB, 2013). Its economy is, however, one of the fastest
growing in the world particularly since the 2000s; its per capita GDP has increased from
$204 in 1990 to $321 in 2000, and further to $1646 in 2013. This rapid growth has
transformed Laos’ economic and social structure to a significant extent. The decline of
its agricultural sector has been rapid as its share in total value added has shrunk to less
than a half; from 61.2 percent in 1990 to 27.9 percent in 20121. By the same token, new
employment opportunities have emerged in the manufacturing and service sectors in more
populated areas, particularly in its capital city Vientiane2. Nevertheless, Laos is still
predominantly an agricultural society, with 77 percent of its households being classified
as “farm households” in 2010 (ACO, 2012)3. Agriculture remains the backbone of its
economy, and is practically the most important sector on which the majority of its people
build their livelihoods (Goto, 2011; Manivong et al., 2014; Rigg, 2005; World Bank,
2006). Within the agricultural sector of Laos, rice is the most important food crop
accounting for about half of its agricultural output and one-fifth of total GDP in 2006
(Setboonsarng et al. 2008). 71 percent of all households in Laos cultivated rice in 2010
(ACO, 2012).
Agriculture in Laos is still primarily subsistence based, and its modernization through
intensification and commercialization has been among the top development priorities
since the introduction of the New Economic Mechanism (NEM) in 1986
(Thongmanivong and Vongvisouk, 2006). As a result, market-oriented agriculture has
gradually started taking root, to some extent replacing subsistence based farming (Wright,
2009). New forms of micro-organizational arrangements in production, such as contract
farming, have evolved in this process. While there has been an ongoing debate about
whether such arrangements are benefiting farmers or not, the fact remains that an
1World Development Indicators (online database), theWorld Bank.
2In this paper, we will refer to Vientiane Capital as “Vientiane”, and the province with the same
name as “Vientiane Province” whenever necessary.
3According to the Lao Census ofAgriculture 2010/11, farm households are defined as a household
which (1) operated 0.02 ha or more of agricultural land in the 2010 wet season or 2010/11 dry
season, or (2) was raising two or more cattle or buffaloes, five or more pigs or goats, or 20 or more
poultry at the time of the census, or (3) was raising any other livestock at the time of the census, or
(4) had aquaculture facilities at the time of the census (ACO, 2012).

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increasing number of smallholder farming households in developing countries are now
connected to markets through this (Miyata et al., 2009; Prowse, 2012). Contract farming
has also been encouraged by the Lao Government in the last few years to realize
agricultural modernization (MAF, 2010).
This paper will focus on the rice sector of Laos, and examine how the Government’s
policy to intensify and commercialize its subsistence-oriented sector is playing out in
attaining its goal of transforming it into a vibrant and competitive sector. Specifically, this
paper attempts to draw these implications by looking at the changes in livelihood
strategies of rice farming households in Vientiane, amidst prevailing institutional and
market conditions, as well as the evolving socio-economic contexts in which these
households are embedded.
The analysis on rice farming households is mainly based on household interviews
conducted in Vientiane during May, September, and October of 2013. In addition, this
paper utilizes a wide range of secondary information and data sources including official
statistics, academic papers as well as reports and other types of documents, published by
government departments, international organizations, and NGOs.
This paper is organized as follows. The next section provides an overview of rice
production in Laos overall, and in Vientiane in particular. Section 3 will describe rice
farming households’ characteristics and the dynamics of cultivation practices in relation
to the socio-economic contexts in which they are embedded. The following section will
address the evolving contract farming practices in the production and distribution of rice,
and attempt to look at how this has been affecting rice farming households in Vientiane.
Section 5 will discuss the results on the upgrading prospects of rice cultivation as well as
its policy implications, and the final section concludes.
2. Overview of rice production in Laos and Vientiane
Rice is the main staple grain in Laos as in many other Asian countries. One particular
characteristics of rice cultivation in Laos is its heavy focus on glutinous rice4; about 92
percent of the rice produced in Laos is of glutinous variety (ACO, 2012). Glutinous rice
has been the traditional staple crop in Laos and Northeast Thailand (Isaan) for centuries,
and Laos has the highest per capita consumption of glutinous rice in the world (Schiller
et al. 2006).
Production of rice in Laos was almost entirely based on manual labor, applying
primarily traditional varieties and farming practices up until the mid-1990s, with limited
use of “modern” inputs such as high yield varieties, fertilizers and irrigation systems.
4Glutinous rice is also referred to as “sticky rice”.

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Agricultural machinery for land preparation and threshing were introduced only recently.
Nevertheless, modernized methods of production have started to penetrate into rice
cultivation practices particularly in the more populated areas such as Vientiane (Schiller
et al. 2006).
Rice has been regarded by the Lao Government as a key commodity in connection to
food security, rural livelihoods, and overall national development. Intensification of rice
production has been encouraged since the introduction of the NEM in 1986, and this
continues today as manifested in the Seventh Five-Year National Socio-Economic
Development Plan for 2011-2015.
Figure 1 summarizes the changes in rice harvesting area and total paddy output from
1980 until 2012. The harvest area was in a declining trend with almost no significant
changes in paddy output up to the mid-90s. The late 70s and early 80s was a period when
Laos was struggling with introducing and managing a cooperative mechanism in its
agriculture sector, which only led to disappointing output performance. Collective rice
farming never took root in Laos, and was altogether abandoned and liberalized in the mid-
80s (Ducourtieux et al., 2005). As a result, rice harvest area since late-80s and early-90s
have been on an upward trend, along with a robust growth in paddy output particularly
from the mid-90s. This rapid output growth is mainly attributed to the expansion of
harvest area, as figure 1 clearly indicates, as well as the introduction of high yield varieties
along with modern agricultural practices such as increased usages of irrigation systems
and chemical fertilizers. The introduction of modern varieties has not just contributed to
an increase in yields in a particular harvest, but has also enabled farmers intensify
cultivation through double cropping.
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Total paddy otput (1000 Tons)
Year
Figure 1: Rice harvest area and paddy output in Laos
Area harvested,
right axis (ha)
Total output,
paddy, left axis
(1000 tonnes)
Source: FAOSTAT.
Area harvested (ha)

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Rice in Laos is produced under different eco-systems, typically classified as lowland
and upland cultivation. Lowland cultivation is characterized by environments in which
rice is grown on submerged soil, which can either be based on rainfall or irrigation
systems. Upland cultivation refer primarily to rainfed rice cropping on soil not
intentionally submerged, and irrigated farming is hardly practiced in these systems. Rice
production can also be categorized seasonally into either wet (rainy)-season (May-
November) or dry-season (December-April) rice farming. Wet-season rice farming is
primarily associated with rainfed systems, while dry-season rice farming is typically an
irrigated rice farming practice, although irrigation systems are also used occasionally in
lowland wet-season farming as supplementary water sources during unexpected rainfall
shortages.
Figure 2 shows the recent trends of harvest area and paddy output under different eco-
systems. The dominant rice production system in Laos is rainfed lowland rice farming,
followed by irrigated lowland rice farming, and rainfed upland rice farming. Upland
farming take place mostly in the northern region and in areas along the border of Vietnam
in the central and southern regions, which are typically mountainous. Its output share of
total domestic rice production has trended constantly downwards in recent years,
dropping from 8.4 percent in 2005 to 6.2 percent in 2012.
0
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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Output (tons)
Year
Figure 2: Harvest area and output in differenteco -systems
Upland rice farming
(harvest area, ha)
Lowland rice farming: dry
(harvest area, ha)
Lowland rice farming: wet
(harvest area, ha)
Lowland rice farming: wet
(output, tons)
Lowland rice farming: dry
(output, tons)
Upland rice farming
(output, tons)
Harvest area (ha)
Source: Lao Statistics Bureau.

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As table 1 reports, Savannakhet province, located in the south-central part of Laos, was
the largest rice producing province in the country, catering for more than one-fifth of its
total output in 2012. Champasack, the southernmost province, was the second largest rice
producer in the same year, with a 15.1 percent share of total domestic production.
Vientiane, which is the focus area of study of this paper, ranked third, with an almost 10
percent share of national output, reflecting its significant position as a rice producing
region in the Lao economy. This may be counterintuitive considering its position as the
“capital” of Laos. While Vientiane is no doubt the most developed and populated area in
Laos with the largest concentration of its non-agricultural sectors, it is nevertheless still
rural in nature where rice production remains important from a local livelihood
perspective, distinguishing it from the rather de-agrarianized and urbanized capitals and
mega-cities of its neighboring countries5.
It is interesting to see the disproportionately high domestic share of Vientiane’s output
of lowland dry-season rice; 19.8 percent compared to an 8.7 percent share in lowland wet-
season rice. This is related to the fact that a significantly higher proportion of arable land
in Vientiane has access to irrigation facilities than average (Schiller et al. 2006). This is
also logical considering the likelihood of higher land values in Vientiane compared to
other regions, leading to stronger incentives for farmers to intensify rice cultivation,
particularly in the dry-season.
5Urbanization is progressing in most part of Asia, however this is not necessarily evident in Laos at
least in terms of population concentration; while the population share of Vientiane was 11.5 percent
in 2000, this has only increased to 12.2 percent in 2012 (authors’ calculation based on Lao Statistics
Bureau data, 2001 and 2013).
Table １: Rice (paddy) output, provincial level, 2012. Unit: Tons.
Lowland wet
rice Share
(%) Lowland dry
rice Share
(%) Upland rice Share
(%) Total Share
(%)
Savannakhet 614,600 22.2% 138,915 27.2% 2,139 1.0% 755,654 21.7%
Champasack 459,180 16.6% 66,490 13.0% 0 0.0% 525,670 15.1%
Vientiane Capital 241,645 8.7% 100,945 19.8% - - 342,590 9.8%
Saravane 242,000 8.8% 53,950 10.6% 9,171 4.2% 305,121 8.7%
Vientiane 230,430 8.3% 28,850 5.7% 11,570 5.4% 270,850 7.8%
Khammuane 208,160 7.5% 45,265 8.9% 1,350 0.6% 254,775 7.3%
Xayabury 140,025 5.1% 12,585 2.5% 31,124 14.4% 183,734 5.3%
Borikhamxay 124,945 4.5% 29,405 5.8% 6,113 2.8% 160,463 4.6%
Xiengkhuang 88,595 3.2% 365 0.1% 17,030 7.9% 105,990 3.0%
Huaphanh 54,435 2.0% 7,630 1.5% 36,825 17.0% 98,890 2.8%
Bokeo 64,945 2.4% 12,200 2.4% 16,903 7.8% 94,048 2.7%
Luangprabang 55,790 2.0% 3,980 0.8% 32,055 14.8% 91,825 2.6%
Oudomxay 59,100 2.1% 1,840 0.4% 16,081 7.4% 77,021 2.2%
Attapeu 65,485 2.4% 1,140 0.2% 3,760 1.7% 70,385 2.0%
Luangnamtha 50,845 1.8% 2,330 0.5% 8,820 4.1% 61,995 1.8%
Phongsaly 33,600 1.2% 895 0.2% 17,736 8.2% 52,231 1.5%
Sekong 29,370 1.1% 3,135 0.6% 5,463 2.5% 37,968 1.1%
TOTAL 2,763,150 509,920 216,140 3,489,210
Source: Lao Statistics Bureau.

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Table 2 shows the rice production trends of Vientiane with reference to the whole
country. The following points merit attention. First, there is a sudden reduction in both
the levels of harvest area and output of lowland wet-season rice in 2008, but such a dip is
not observed in lowland dry-season output6. In addition, as there is no similar fall in the
overall domestic output level of wet-season paddy, this unusual decline of output seems
rather an idiosyncratic effect to the rainy season in Vientiane of that particular year. One
of the plausible explanations of this is the extraordinary flooding in August of 2008,
caused by a tropical storm which elevated the water level of the Mekong River to a
historical height. Flooding has always been considered as one of the largest risks
associated with rice farming in Vientiane and in Laos overall (Schiller et al., 2001;
Schiller et al. 2006), and this particular one in 2008 has been reported as probably the
worst in the past several decades for Vientiane (DREF, 2008; MRC, 2009; Sonnasinh,
2008). This highlights the important fact that rice cultivation along the Mekong River,
and in the Vientiane Plains particular, is highly prone to natural disaster (flood) related
risks, which has strong implications to livelihood strategy decisions of rice farming
households.
6Note that the “harvest area” is different from, and usually smaller than, the “planted area”. While
the “planted area” could have been the same in 2008 as in previous years, as a result of serious
flooding which damaged the planted paddy, the area where harvesting was actually possible
(“harvesting area”) might have been significantly smaller than the “planted area”.
Table 2: Rice (paddy) production in Vientiane
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Vientiane
Lowland rainfed paddy
harvestedarea(ha) 52,150 52,640 53,380 39,280 54,335 54,039 50,311 55,548
share 9.2% 8.5% 8.8% 6.3% 8.3% 8.6% 8.4% 7.9%
production (ton) 201,600 200,075 219,685 161,315 225,150 233,935 214,935 241,645
share 9.7% 9.3% 10.0% 6.9% 9.1% 10.0% 9.3% 8.7%
yield(ton/ha) 3.87 3.80 4.12 4.11 4.14 4.33 4.27 4.35
Lowland dry season paddy
harvestedarea(ha) 21,656 21,100 20,125 21,049 22,176 21,500 21,300 20,762
share 35.5% 30.8% 28.2% 22.4% 23.5% 19.8% 19.0% 19.2%
production (ton) 98,600 97,100 96,000 99,825 108,025 101,725 103,630 100,945
share 36.4% 31.3% 29.2% 22.7% 23.9% 19.9% 19.2% 19.8%
yield(ton/ha) 4.55 4.60 4.77 4.74 4.87 4.73 4.87 4.86
Share of irrigation rice farming in Vientiane
harvestarea 41.5% 40.1% 37.7% 53.6% 40.8% 39.8% 42.3% 37.4%
production 48.9% 48.5% 43.7% 61.9% 48.0% 43.5% 48.2% 41.8%
Laos total
Lowland rainfed paddy
harvestedarea(ha) 569,750 618,820 604,147 619,950 656,471 627,865 598,358 706,028
production (ton) 2,082,100 2,161,400 2,193,400 2,321,110 2,468,750 2,331,330 2,323,195 2,763,150
yield(ton/ha) 3.65 3.49 3.63 3.74 3.76 3.71 3.88 3.91
Lowland dry season paddy
harvestedarea(ha) 61,030 68,500 71,400 94,072 94,309 108,410 112,210 107,967
production (ton) 271,100 310,000 329,200 439,200 452,050 512,430 540,315 509,920
yield(ton/ha) 4.44 4.53 4.61 4.67 4.79 4.73 4.82 4.72
Source: Agricultural Statistics Year Book, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

8.
Second, lowland dry-season rice output in Vientiane has more or less remained constant
during the above reference period, while its total domestic output has significantly
increased. Its output share in the domestic dry-season rice production has decreased
significantly; from 36.4 percent in 2005 to 19.8 percent in 2012. This is interesting as it
may suggest that dry-season irrigated rice farming in Vientiane may already have peaked
despite its potential for further output growth through accelerated intensification.
Figure 3 report changes in the producer price index (PPI) of paddy in nominal and real
terms, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) trends. The PPI measures the average change
in selling prices received by the producers, where the base is set as 100 at the 2004-2006
producer price average7. In order to offset the fluctuations of price levels, a “real PPI” has
been calculated using the CPI.
Overall, the rice PPI has been in an increasing trend in nominal terms until 2010. The
directions of change in real PPI has been mixed, however in broad terms it has rather
trended downwards throughout the reference period, except during the short years of
1995-1997 and 2005-2010. The increase in real PPI in these periods are likely to be
attributed to the unusual price increase in the food component of the CPI in Laos, such as
the recent hike in food prices in 2008 (Sengxua et al., 2009)8. It would be interesting to
note, by the way, that the exceptionally high inflation in Laos in the late 90s, as clearly
indicated by the CPI curve, is caused mainly by the Government’s ambitious irrigation
expansion programs during this period, which have been financed with excessive
7The PPI data are from FAOSTAT database (http://faostat.fao.org/), accessed on July 30, 2014.
8Food price volatility is a phenomenon that has also been observed at a global scale, attracting
significant attention in recent years particularly in relation to the “global food crisis”. See, for
example, studies such as Conceicao and Mendoza (2009) Lang (2010) and Moseley (2013).
0
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Year
Figure 3: Producer price index of paddy in Laos
Producer price
index of paddy
(left axis)
Producer price
index of paddy,
real (left axis)
CPI (right axis)
Note: The producer price index measures the average changein selling prices received by producers (2004 -2006 average =1 00).
The base of the CPI has accordingly been setat year 2 005.
Source: producer price index from FAOSTAT (FAO), and CPI data fromWorldDev elopmentIndicators (World Bank).
CPI

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seigniorage measures (IMF, 2000; High, 2013)9.
Although the reference period is somewhat short to make a generalized and conclusive
statement, a noteworthy trend in this figure is the steady decline in real (and nominal) PPI
since 2010. This could be related to several factors. First, rising income levels often
stimulate changes in general preferences towards a diversified food consumption pattern,
which may have led to a decrease in demand for rice in general, and for the traditional
glutinous ones in particular. Eliste and Santos (2012) suggest that per capita rice
consumption in Laos has already reached, or at least is about to reach, its peak, as it has
become an inferior good given the current overall income levels. This seems to be the
case especially in the relatively populous areas such as Vientiane. Interviews during our
fieldwork suggested a growing perception among rice producers of a decreasing demand
particularly for the glutinous variety due to such a preference change.
Second, several studies indicate that Laos has achieved self-sufficiency in the supply
of rice in the early 2000s (Schiller, 2006)10. Being able to generate rice surplus would
enable Laos to emerge as a significant exporter of its surplus rice as the Government
envisages, however such a trend has not yet been captured in official export statistics.
Nevertheless, with a vibrant border trade which transactions are typically not recorded
and reflected in official statistics, it is quite likely that a substantial volume of rice are
nonetheless been exported informally to neighboring countries, particularly to Thailand.
3. Livelihood strategies of rice farming households in Vientiane
Given the overall context, we now look at household livelihoods that underpin, as well as
are shaped by, the contexts described above. This section primarily relies on information
obtained through structured questionnaire based interviews conducted in Vientiane with
rice farming households. While the reference year for the base-line information was set
to 2012, we have also asked for information on a set of selected questions for 2008 and
2003 in order to capture some of the key dimensions of the household livelihood strategy
dynamics.
The questionnaire was first prepared in English and later translated into Lao. Initial
field testing of the Lao questionnaire was done in May 2013, and the actual interviews
were conducted during September and October of the same year using the revised
9The annual inflation rate (CPI increase)was 91 percent and 128 percent in 1998 and 1999,
respectively.
10 However, Laos is well known for its poorly integrated agricultural market, resulting in a major
imbalances in food security between provinces, with rice abundance in major rice producing areas in
the central and southern provinces and shortages primarily in the northern and mountainous regions
(Eliste and Santos, 2012).

10.
questionnaire in Lao. Five villages in four districts of Vientiane were identified as
research sites where rice cultivation was the major economic activity, namely Thasommor
(Xaythany district), Namhom (Naxaythong district), Donevangpho (Parkngum district),
Thadeua (Parkngum district), and Dongkaluem (Hadxayfong district) villages.
As representative sampling frames for the villages were not available at the time of
fieldwork, sample household selection was done through a chain-referral sampling
method. For more practical reasons, this was probably the only possible sampling method
for us at that time, as reference from farmer group leaders and peer rice farming
households were in reality essential in obtaining contacts for interviews. This approach
allowed us also to establish a more trust-based relationship, inviting less suspicion than
otherwise. It also enabled a more targeted sampling towards rice farming households,
which made the interviews more relevant in light of our research purpose; we were
primarily interested in households which were or had been farmingrice, rather than those
that never did. It would nevertheless be important to point out that this sampling method
is obviously more prone to biases than a purely randomized sampling strategy, because
of the serious likelihood of those better connected with particular social networks being
overrepresented (Noy, 2008). This becomes a problem when these overrepresented
households have distinct characteristics compared to those that are excluded by this
sampling design, in terms of their attributes that are important to the main concerns of the
study. This is one major caveat that should be borne in mind when interpreting the results.
Given this, the information from interviews nevertheless reveal wide variation in
important household and rice farming characteristics and related attributes. As a result, a
total of 153 households were interviewed, with detailed age and sex-disaggregated work-
status information of 513 people (working population) from these households. In addition,
in-depth interviews with five rice mills were also conducted.
Table 3. Household workers' age statistics
average
sd
t-Stat.
Prob. > |t|
Female Male Female Male
average 39.2 41.2 30.6 33.0
sd 13.4 14.2 9.9 13 .5
t-Stat.
Prob. > |t|
n 190 172 61 90
Source: Interview survey.
6.277
0.000***
Note: * Significant at the 10% level; ** Significant at the 5% level; ***
Significant at the 1% level.
1.345 1.161
0.2480.179
Agricultural worker Non-agricultural worker
40.2
13.8 12 .2
32.0

11.
There were on average 5.2 people in a household, with 68 percent being two-generation
households, and 27.5 percent three-generation households. 43 percent of the interviewed
households were extended families, which are defined here as one that extends the nuclear
family to include one or more relatives. The relative high share of extended family is
commonly observed in developing countries, and often understood as a household’s
response of risk sharing and labor pooling in the absence of pertinent formal institutions
(Cox and Fafchamps, 2008).
It is interesting to note the clear difference in age composition of those involved in
agricultural work, primarily rice farming, and those in non-agricultural work, including
off-farm work. Table 3 summarizes the characteristics of households’ workers. The
average age of agricultural workers was about 40, while that for non-agricultural workers
was 32, which difference was significant at a 1 percent level.This is in line with available
literature suggesting that younger generations in rural areas of developing countries,
including Laos, are shifting from agriculture to non-agriculture jobs in manufacturing and
services (Estudillo et al., 2013). The rapid increase of agricultural wages seem to
accelerate this trend (Wiggins and Keats, 2014). Studies indicate the increase of the
opportunity cost in agricultural work is rising in Laos as well (Manivong et al., 2014),
making it difficult for rice farmers to cope with this trend unless a significant increase in
productivity (yield) or value added is realized. There was, however, no difference
observed between males and females within work categories (agriculture and non-
agriculture) that were statistically significant, suggesting no particular gender specific
occupational tendencies.
Table 4 presents an overview of rice farming of the sample households. Average
Table 4: Rice farming (lowland)(1)
2003 2008 2012 t-Stat. Prob. > |t| t-Stat. Prob.> |t| t-Stat. Prob. > |t|
Average size of farmland (ha) 1.43 1.51 1.66 1.39 0.17 2.12
0.04
** 2.14
0.03
**
Wet season rice cultivation
Average area of land used (ha) 1.24 1.30 1.40 1.26 0.21 1.83
0.07
*1.94
0.05
*
Average share (%) 90.7% 89.6% 88.7% 0.80 0.42 0.80 0.42 1.27 0.21
Dry season rice cultivation
Average area of land used (ha) 1.09 1.14 1.20 0.48 0.63 0.48 0.63 0.89 0.37
Average share (%) 82.5% 85.4% 82.9% 0.77 0.44 0.71 0.48 0.12 0.90
Irrigation
% irrigated (wet season) 39.4% 41.0% 40.1% 0.95 0.35 0.69 0.49 0.38 0.70
% irrigated (dry season) 87.4% 89.4% 88.1% 1.31 0.19 1.05 0.30 0.38 0.70
Total output (household average) 5,841 6,561 6,755 3.08
0.002
*** 0.74 0.46 2.09
0.04
**
Yield (kg/ha, per harvest) 2,796 2,856 2,788 0.96 0.34 0.95 0.35 0.08 0.94
Share of glutinous rice (%)(2) 96.0% 95.2% 93.8% 1.20 0.23 1.37 0.17 2.49 0.01**
Source: Interview survey.
Note: Only two of the sample farm households (n=150) practiced upland rice cultivation, and these are not included in the table. * Significant at
the 10% level; ** Significant at the 5% level; *** Significant at the 1% level.
diff 03-08 diff 08-12 diff 03-12

12.
farmland size was 1.43 hectares per household in 2003, which has increased slightly to
1.51 and 1.66 hectares in 2008 and 2012, respectively11 . Changes were statistically
significant at 5 percent during 2003-2012 and 2008-2012, but not during 2003-2008. The
cultivation area of wet-season rice farming has increased accordingly, which were
significant at 10 percent levels during 2008-2012 and 2003-2012, while there were no
such significant changes observed for dry-season farming during the entire reference
period. Likewise, changes in the average proportion of farmland used for both wet and
dry-season rice farming were also not statistically significant. While total average output
per household has increased during 2003-2008 and 2003-2012 (but not during 2008-
2012), the average yield has not increased during the entire reference period. These
suggest that the slight increase in rice output has been primarily due to a modest expansion
of the planting areas in wet-season rice farming, without growth in the overall
proportional use of arable land, nor in productivity. The fact that the expansion of rice
cultivation occurred in wet-season and not in dry-season cultivation is interesting. It is
also interesting to note the decrease of the share of glutinous rice production vis-à-vis
non-glutinous rice from 96 percent in 2003 to 93.8 percent in 2012 (5 percent
significance).
While just about 5 percent of the rice planted were modern high yielding varieties
(HYVs) in the early 90s, they have rapidly started to replace the traditional ones once the
improved Lao varieties, particularly the Thadokkham varieties (TDK). About 70 percent
of the households interviewed used the TDK series, of which the most intensively used
one was TDK 8. However, planting several varieties in one season were common, in many
cases including traditional varieties.
11 Other studies note similar sizes for average farm sizes for rice cultivation in Laos. For example,
Bestari et al. (2006b) notes that the average rice farm size is less than 2 ha.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1971-1975 1976-1980 1981-1985 1986-1990 1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-
Number of sample households
Year
Figure 4: Access to irrigation
Number of
sample
households
gaining access to
irrigation (left
axis)
Cumulative share
of households
with access to
irrigation (%)
(right axis)
Source: Interview survey.
Cumulative share (%)

13.
The share of irrigated land was 40.1 percent and 88.1 percent in 2012 for the wet and
dry-season respectively, which has not changed in any significant way since 2003 or 2008.
In 2012, about 98 percent of the sample households had access to irrigation facilities.
Figure 4 illustrates the years in which irrigation became available. According to this, a
large proportion of households have gained access to irrigation systems during the years
between 1996 and 2000. Irrigation capacity in Laos increased significantly from 1995
throughout the late 90s as a result of the Government’s large scale irrigation projects
mentioned earlier, which expansion has been the largest on the Vientiane Plain and in
major rice producing areas such as Savannakhet and Champasack (Schiller et al. 2006).
These suggest that while access to irrigation systems were practically no longer a
constraint, most of the rice farming households nevertheless seem not to be interested in
increasing rice output through increased use of irrigation.
Table 5 summarizes usages of key inputs for rice production; labor and fertilizers12.
Dry-season rice cultivation is typically more intensive in labor and fertilizer than wet-
season cultivation, and our data confirms similar patterns. For instance, the average
number of workers were 4.68 during the dry-season, compared to 3.97 during the wet-
season in 2012. Likewise, the average amount of fertilizers used were 161 kg/ha and 245
kg/ha for wet- and dry-season rice cultivation for the same year, respectively.
A weak level of intensification in terms of labor is observed for wet-season rice
cultivation during 2003-2012 (significant at 10 percent), while that for dry-season rice
farming has been more apparent during the same period (5 percent level). Similarly, while
there have been no significant changes in the usage of fertilizers in wet-season rice
farming during the reference period, intensification of fertilizers has been significant at a
12 Note that the averages for the number of people working on rice cultivation and the amount of
fertilizer used are based on households which were cultivating rice in all three years.
Table 5: Labor and fertilizers Unit: price = LAK
2003 2008 2012
Labor t-Stat. Prob. > |t| t-Stat. Prob. > |t| t-Stat. Prob. > |t|
Average number of people working on rice cultivation, per ha
Rainfed(wet) 3.62 3.76 3.97 1.06 0.29 1.31 0.19 1.85 0.07*
Irrigated (dry) 4.01 4.09 4.68 0.57 0.57 1.82 0.07* 1.98 0.05**
Fertilizers
Average amount of fertilizer used (Kg), per ha
Rainfed(wet) 149 156 161 1.38 0.17 0.78 0.44 1.39 0.17
Irrigated (dry) 195 215 245 2.83 0.006*** 1.80 0.07* 3.04 0.003***
Average cost of ferilizer (LAK/kg)
Rainfed(wet) 7,422 10,328 12,485 1.94 0.06* 2.02 0.045** 1.98 0.05*
Irrigated (dry) 7,355 9,696 11,791 1.66 0.099* 2.21 0.03** 1.90 0.06*
diff 03-08 diff 08-12 diff 03-12
Source: Interview survey.
Note: Out of the entire sample households, only two practiced upland rice cultivation, and these are not included. The averages for the number ofpeople working and
fertilizer used werec alculated only with data from households that were cultivatingr ice in all three reference years. * Significant at the 10% level; ** Signific ant at the 5%
level; *** Significant at the 1% level.

14.
1 percent level between 2003 and 2012 for dry-season rice cultivation13.
Interviews with rice farmers reveal increasing concerns to maintain rice cultivation as
the main livelihood strategy.Table 6 summarizes the household income statistics of 2008
and 201214. As this table depicts, household incomes in nominal terms have increased
from a monthly LAK 2.75 million in 2008 to LAK 3.38 million in 201215. Likewise,
income “per person” and “per working person” have also increased from LAK 535
thousand to LAK 657 thousand, and LAK 922 thousand to LAK 1135 thousand, during
2008 and 2012, respectively.These represent roughly an annual nominal income increase
of 5.3% in both cases, which differences have all been statistically significant at the 1
percent level. However, the statistically insignificant changes in real income during this
period is critical, which is in stark contrast with an annual 5.4 percent real per capita GNI
growth during the same period16.
13 As detailed information on the particular type of fertilizer was not obtained during the interviews,
the results on changes in fertilizers assumes an insignificant change in the type of fertilizers
(chemical/organic) and NPKcombinations during the reference period, and thus should be treated
with caution when interpreting the results. In order to provide a benchmark for the figures reported,
the FAO notes that the average standard rate of fertilizer application for rice is 200 to 220kg/ha for
N, 140 to 145kg/ha for P, and 150 to 180kg/ha for K (total of 490 - 545 kg/ha) (FAO, 2003). The
figures reported in our interview survey are significantly lower than these, which is in line with
available research on rice cultivation in developing countries and in Laos in particular.
14 Data on 2003 was not included as only fewresponses were obtained in the interviews.
15 USD 1 was about LAK 7800 in September 2012.
16 Author’s calculation based on data fromWorld Development Indicators
(http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators, accessed on August 11,
2014.)
Table 6: Household income statistics (monthly) Unit: Lao Kip (LAK)
2008 2012 2008 2012
Household average 2,752,903 3,376,641 2,919,304 3,009,484
Percentage changes
Average, per person 534,932 656,627 567,267 585,229
Percentage changes
Average, per working person 922,210 1,134,670 977,953 1,011,292
Percentage changes
n 137 137 137 137
Source: Interview survey. CPI data are from World Development Indicators, the World Bank.
22.7%
t-Stat. 3.363, Prob. >|t|= 0.0003***
t-Stat. 3.916, Prob. >|t|= 0.0001***
23.0%
22.7%
Note: Income shares and t-statistics are calculated using paired-data only.* Significant at the 10% level; ** Significant at the
5% level; *** Significant at the 1% level. 1 US$ was about 7800 Kip in September of 2012.
3.1%
t-Stat. 0.571, Prob. >|t|= 0.568
Nominal Real (CPI adjusted)
t-Stat. 3.713, Prob. >|t|= 0.0002*** t-Stat. 0.546, Prob. >|t| = 0.606
3.4%
t-Stat. 0.555, Prob. >|t|= 0.579
3.2%

15.
Some changes in basic household livelihood strategies seem to be occurring. An
analysis of the households’ changes in income share suggests a declining importance of
rice farming in relation to other crops, but more importantly to non-agricultural sources
of income, including remittances from overseas through labor migration. Table 7
summarizes these results. Average income share from rice per household has been falling,
from 59.1 percent in 2003 to 52.3 percent in 2012. Changes have been statistically
significant at 5 and 1 percent during 2003-2008 and 2003-2012, respectively.
Likewise, the average share of income from other agricultural sources have increased
at a 5 percent significance level during 2003-2008, however the changes have been
statistically insignificant for 2008-2012 and 2003-201217. Average income share from
non-agricultural activities (including overseas remittances) have increased from 25.7
percent in 2003 to 30.1 percent in 2012, which changes were significant at 10 percent
levels during 2003-2012 and 2008-2012.
The share of households that were receiving any amount of remittances from family
members working overseas (primarily Thailand) was 3.5 percent in 2003, which increased
to 6.1 percent in 2012 (change was significant at 10 percent). The average contribution of
remittances in these households’ income share was 21.6 percent in 2012. This upward
trend in international labor migration as an alternative to rice farming has also been
reported in a detailed study of rural households in Champasack province by Manivong et
al. (2014), where migration and remittance seem to play a much larger rolein the evolving
local livelihood strategies among households in this province. This may be due to the
lesser availability of non-agricultural work in Champasack, compared to the relatively
more diversified livelihood opportunities in Vientiane (Askew et al., 2007).
4. Problems in agricultural intensification, contract farming and livelihood
17 Other agricultural produce include vegetables primarily for own consumption such as beans,
cabbages, cassava and cucumbers, as well as other staple crop including maize. Some also bred
livestock such as ducks, chicken, pigs and cows.
Table 7: Average income share
t-Stat. Prob. > |t| t-Stat. Prob. > |t| t-Stat. Prob. > |t|
59.1% 53.7% 52.3% 2.45 0.02** 0.87 0.39 2.64 0.009***
15.1% 19.2% 17.6% 2.14 0.04** 1.23 0.22 0.98 0.33
25.7% 27.1% 30.1% 0.66 0.51 1.89 0.06* 1.70 0.09*
Shareof householdswith remittances 3.5% 5.2% 6.1% 1.42 0.16 1.00 0.32 1.75 0.08*
Source: Interview survey.
3. Non-agricultural activities, including remittances
2. Other agricultural produce
1. Rice
201220082003 diff 03-08 diff 08-12
Note: income shares and t-statistics are calculated using paired-data only. * Significant at the 10% level; ** Significant at the 5% level; *** Significant
at the 1% level.
diff 03-12

16.
strategies
4.1 Problems reported by rice farming households
The previous sections have highlighted key dimensions of the changes in rice cultivation
practices. First, the increase in rice output is primarily due to a combination of a (1)
modest expansion of planting areas in wet-season rice cultivation, with only weak
evidence of intensification in labor during a limited period but none in fertilizers, and an
(2) increased use of irrigation and fertilizer inputs under dry-season rice cultivation,
without any increase in plant and irrigation acreage, even when the availability of
irrigation sources became no longer a constraint for many. In other words, wet-season
rice cultivation followed an extensification path in rice acreage, while the dry-season
cultivation followed a land-saving, intensification path18. The differences in the dynamic
orientation between the two cultivation systems is interesting, considering both being
exposed to and embedded in the same socio-economic context. However, as dry-season
rice cultivation is more intensive in nature, the increased use of inputs during dry-season
cultivation could just be a result of a technological change inherent as a result of
adaptation. Thus, if rice farmers would have perceived dry-season rice cultivation as
profitable and as an emerging key component of their livelihood strategy, then
extensification in this should also have occurred like in wet-season cultivation. This is in
stark contrast with rice acreage dynamics in Bangladesh, where Minten et al. (2012)
report a significant increase in dry season (boro) rice cultivation and a drastic decline in
wet-season rice (aus) acreage and output as a result of increased availability of HYVs and
key inputs (irrigation and fertilizers).
Second, the stagnant growth in average real income of rice-based households is
remarkable compared to the recent robust overall national economic performance. In line
with this, the younger generations in these households seem to be increasingly preferring
non-agricultural sectors jobs, negatively affecting the labor supply in local rice cultivation.
These are all interrelated dimensions of the ongoing socio-economic changes surrounding
the households, which have culminated to the extent to induce them to shift their
livelihood strategies away from rice and more towards non-agricultural orientation, as
well as towards less intensive rice cultivation practices.
18 See a similar discussion on the definition of agricultural intensification in Manivong et al. (2014).

17.
Table 8 summarizes the main problems reported by the sample households in the
cultivation of rice. From this, it is interesting to note that about 60 percent of the sampled
households regarded the lack of workers, or the difficulties in recruiting and retaining
workers (both family members and outside agricultural labor) for rice cultivation, as one
of the main problems. The rapid rise in agricultural wages is an emerging issue for a
number of countries in Asia, including Laos, as mentioned earlier.
The lack of capital has been well acknowledged as one of the key problems in
developing countries, and this has also been perceived as a major constraint by more than
half of the households; only 36 percent of the sample households received some form of
credit from financial institutions. As agricultural intensification is essentially a
modernization strategy which is capital intensive, access to credit is crucial for farm
households with limited financial resources to cope with the need for increased inputs.
Interviews with farmers indicate that capital is most needed for fertilizers and irrigation,
which are the two main ingredients for intensive rice cultivation.
The lack of technical knowledge and skills in rice cultivation is also regarded as a major
bottleneck by the households. This would become particularly important in the process
of agricultural intensification using modern HYVs, as they require more sophisticated
knowledge and management skills. For instance, the introduction of HYVs can result in
a significant growth in output with proper fertilizer application in terms of its timing and
volume, however most of the rice farmers in Laos seem to lack these knowledge, and
have therefore not been able to benefit from its full potential (Douangngeune, 2010;
Schiller et al., 2001). Agricultural extension services do often play major roles in
disseminating such information, however in Laos such services are still very limited
(Eliste and Santos, 2012).
The lack or serious underdevelopment of an integrated local rice market has also been
regarded as a major problem. The Government has, at least in the past, intervened in the
marketing of rice through monopolistic state-owned enterprises, price controls, and
Table 8: Main problems in rice cultivation (multiple answers)
Issue Share (%)
Lack of workers 60.3%
Lack of capital 54.3%
Lack of technical expertise 41.7%
Market access 26.5%
Rice price too low (1) 15.9%
Irrigation costs 10.6%
Pests and diseases 6.0%
Floods 4.6%
Source: Interview survey.
Note (1): Low levels of rice price has mainly been perceived as
a problem in relation to high input costs, particularly fertilizers.

18.
through lengthy bureaucratic procedures for licenses and permits, which all led to
crowding out private trade and stalling paddy output growth (Bestari et al., 2006a;
Setboonsarn et al., 2008; World Bank, 2006). Information from MAF officials however
suggest that while temporary price ceilings may be introduced during an unexpected event
of price hikes, the Government currently does not appear to have active price control
policies for rice in general, and marketing of rice in general inVientiane seem to be fairly
liberalized. Nevertheless, liberalization will not automatically lead to an instant birth of a
well-functioning market and competitive, dynamic agricultural sector, primarily due to
institutional deficits, as evident in serious agricultural and factor market failures in Laos.
The low farm-gate price of rice is also identified as a major problem. Ample studies
analyzing rural incomes and agricultural output from an agricultural household model’s
perspective suggest that the increase in crop prices do not necessarily lead to an increase
in supply of that crop by farm households, especially those that are more subsistence
oriented, precisely because of the indivisibility of those as a producer and a consumer of
the particular agricultural crop (Singh et al., 1986; Taylor and Adelman, 2003). Therefore,
prices may not necessarily be good indicators to evaluate sectoral performance
particularly in subsistence or semi-commercial based rural economies. Nevertheless,
most of the households in our case have referred the low price issue in relation with the
disproportionately increasing input costs, primarily fertilizers and irrigation19, suggesting
negative profit trends.
Issues related to pests, diseases and floods are also commonly referred to as challenges
in rice cultivation. In Laos, however, pests and diseases have been reported as minor
constraints compared to others such as inadequate amount of water, and a general lack of
farmers’ crop management knowledge (Schiller et al., 2001). Floods are regarded as
among the biggest problems in the Vientiane Plain along the Mekong River. While this is
without doubt problematic for the Government from a food security point of view, it is
also amongst the defining issues for rice farmers on their livelihood strategies.
4.2 Contract rice farming as a problem solver?
The problems reported by rice farming households are primarily interrelated structural
and institutional issues, common to other developing countries. For instance, labor
shortages in rice cultivation arise with changes in economic structures, particularly when
alternative non-agricultural working opportunities increase. This would in turn raise rural
wages (Wiggins and Keats, 2014), and the shadow wages for self-employed farmers.
19 According to the interviews, farmers have reported an increase in average unit cost of fertilizer of
22 percent during 2008 and 2012.

19.
Increased labor migration to neighboring countries will add to this effect. However, this
would also make it more difficult for rice farmers to hire workers or sustain rice
cultivation practices, unless they can increase their productivity levels leading to higher
per unit value added. Previous sections show no particular signs of upgrading in these
aspects, probably due to the reported problems such as difficulties in access to credit,
technical support, inputs, and markets.
These problems are likely due to underdeveloped financial institutions, weak or
inadequate public extension services, high transaction costs, and fragmented and
imperfect input and output markets, as reported by the rice farming households. Contract
farming is often seen as a solution to these problems, or at least as a temporary alternative,
supplementing institutional weaknesses often undermining market functions in
developing countries (Miyata et al., 2009).
It is under these circumstances in which the Lao Government has been encouraging
private sector involvement through contract rice farming. In connection to this, an
increasing number of rice cultivation households are now being connected to both local
and international markets through private contract farming arrangements (Fullbrook,
2007: Setboonsarn 2008).
Table 9: Difference between independent and contract farming households
Independent Contract All households
t-Stat. Prob. > |t|
Size of farmland (ha) 1.60 2.05 1.66 1.241 0.217
Size of landused in wet season (ha) 1.35 1.75 1.40 1.361 0.176
Size of landused in dry season (ha) 1.11 1.80 1.20 2.662 0.009 ***
Fertilizers used in wet season, per ha 145.1 221.3 155.9 3.043 0.003***
Fertilizers used in dry season, per ha 218.9 369.9 239.7 3.340 0.001 ***
% irrigated in wetseason 37.9 58.1 40.3 1.859
0.065
*
% irrigated in dryseason 87.3 94.2 88.1 1.006 0.710
Yield (kg/ha) 2,714 3,218 2,785 1.683 0.095*
Price, wet season (LAK/kg) 2,427 2,413 2,425 0.107 0.915
Price, dry season (LAK/kg) 2,611 2,393 2,587 1.609 0.110
Profit, wet season(LAK/kg) 1,155 1,272 1,168 0.508 0.612
Profit, dry season (LAK/kg) 1,114 1,137 1,117 0.112 0.911
% rice sold, wet season 41.1 58.8 43.0 2.189 0.030**
% rice sold, dry season 55.6 78.2 58.0 2.352 0.020**
Monthlyhouseholdincome 3,059,108 5,373,148 3,338,656 2.639 0.009***
Source: Interview survey.
Note: The averages for "all household" may be slightly different from those in Tables 4, 5, and 6, as these tables only
uses "paired data" (exluding household data with omitted years for theparticular question) for the t-tests. *Significant at
the 10% level; ** Significant at the 5% level; *** Significant at the 1% level.
t Test of difference
(Independent and Contract)

20.
Table 9 summarizes the contract farming effects20. Contract farming was introduced
quite recently in Laos (Manorom et al., 2011), which was also the case in the sample
households in the research area; the earliest households have started producing under
contracts since 2008 while the majority participated after 2010. The main buyers who
coordinated the contracts were wholesalers, but also included rice mills, government
departments, foreign buyers, and a beer brewing company21.
First, while there was no statistically significant difference in the size of total farmland
and wet-season rice acreage between an average independent and a contract farming
household, the rice acreage of dry-rice cultivation was substantially larger for contract
farming households; 1.11 ha and 1.80 ha respectively (difference significant at 1 percent).
Fertilizers were more intensively used by contract households in both wet- and dry-season
cultivation at 1 percent significance levels, however intensity of irrigation use was only
slightly different in wet-season cultivation (significant at 10 percent). Yield was almost
20 percent higher for contract farmers compared to independent ones (3,218 kg/ha and
2,714 kg/ha), which was also significant at a 10 percent level.
Surprisingly, there was no difference in farm-gate paddy prices, nor in per unit profits
between independent and contract farmers. However, as cost structures can differ
considerably between farmers in different groups (independent or contract), these results
should be interpreted with caution. In addition, intra-group variation in contractual terms
of farms cultivating under contracts may also be significant, suggesting the associated
difficulties in interpreting the results particularly on prices. For example, while some rice
cultivating households may receive all inputs, credit for irrigation costs, and technical
advice from contractors in advance for free, others may have to invest in some of these
themselves22. Differences in the timing of negotiating paddy prices (pre-planting or post-
harvest) matter as well, as the price difference will incorporate the structure of risk
allocation between the contractor and the farm regarding possible fluctuations in market
and weather conditions (Grosh, 1994).
It is interesting to note the stark difference in the average monthly income between
independent and contract households, however, the causal relationship of this income
20 It should be noted that there were only 18 households (about 12 percent of the entire sample) that
were producing rice under contractfarming arrangements.
21 It appears that there is significant variation in the organization of rice production in Laos, with
various actors involved, assuming coordinative roles such as in contract farming. See Sengxua et al.
(2009) for detailed descriptions.
22 The term “2+3” is often used in Laos to describe this pattern of responsibility allocation in
contract farming among the stakeholders involved. Typically, this refers to a contract in which
farmers contribute two elements, namely land and labor, while contractors contribute three such as
the provision of inputs, technical advice and access to markets (Fullbrook, 2007). However, it is also
noted that there are wide variations in the actual contractual forms.

21.
difference and contract farming is not clear. In fact, it has often been argued that the
relatively better-off, larger farmers tend to be the ones being able to participate in contract
farming arrangements and benefiting disproportionately in comparison to smallholders
who are more likely to be excluded (Key and Runsten, 1999). Reasons for this include
observable attributes such as their potential higher productivities due to larger acreages,
locational advantages such as being closer to roads and major markets, capital availability,
and also due to unobservable attributes such as better crop management knowledge and
diligent work attitudes (Miyata et al., 2008). Nevertheless, overall it seems that contract
farmers were in fact able to reap higher profits, not because of higher unit profit margins
but because of higher yields, which may have contributed to higher households incomes.
5. Discussion
The rice sector is important for Laos from both a food security and livelihood perspective,
and the Government has been pursuing measures to transform this into a modern sector
through intensification and commercialization. In this process, modern HYVs were
introduced, large investment projects in irrigation systems took place, and markets were
liberalized. The roles of the private sector has also been highlighted in this process.
Contract farming has in particular been encouraged, where private firms are expected to
link subsistent oriented smallholder rice farmers to markets as well as to facilitate their
access to key inputs including seeds, fertilizers, technical advice, and credit. An
increasing number of rice cultivating households are now participating in this particular
form of rice production in Laos.
Rice cultivation in Vientiane has been affected, probably disproportionately, from these
initiatives because of its location and position as the capital. Given its intensive nature,
dry-season rice cultivation should be more appropriate under the relative factor conditions
in the rice producing areas of Vientiane vis-à-vis other rice regions, where the value of
land would be lower, as pointed out earlier. Nevertheless, official statistics as well as our
interview data suggests that dry-season rice cultivation in Vientiane in general does not
seem to be growing as one might expect. This is in particular puzzling when there are
indications of acreage expansion in wet-season rice cultivation.
The fact that rice acreage in dry-season rice cultivation is not expanding in Vientiane
suggest that market liberalization, availability of HYVs and irrigation systems do not
automatically translate into self-sustaining intensification and growth dynamics of the
sector per se. As discussed in previous sections, the rice sector in Laos is facing a wide
range of interrelated problems including high irrigation costs, lack of proper crop
management skills, insufficient use of inputs, underdeveloped input and output markets,

22.
and limited extension services. While these are, without question, all key issues that holds
these rice farmers back from intensification particularly in dry-season rice cultivation,
what further undermines a dynamic upgrading of the sector is the presence of a serious
coordination failure.
For instance, the difficulties in obtaining modern inputs such as HYV seeds and
fertilizers by smallholder rice farmers may be mitigated through contract farming
arrangements where buyers closer to such markets can more easily access them. However
the buyers in the contract may at the same time lack the appropriate incentives to commit
to the contractual relationship and supply farmers the full package of the inputs needed
to realize its maximum potential. This could be due to an extremelyweak ability of those
buyers to enforce contracts on the rice farmers, who might take opportunistic behavior by
shirking, such as side-selling the paddy to other higher bidding buyers after harvest.
Likewise, farmers may face problems in investing appropriate levels ofcertain inputs and
labor in the cultivation process, particularly when they are uncertain of whether the buyers
will purchase the paddy at a pre-agreed price. The lack of institutional capacity to enforce
contracts in Laos is widely known (Fullbrook, 2007; World Bank, 2006), and contract
farming is always prone to sub-optimal levels of commitments because of the underlying
uncertainties. These are typical results of coordination failures observed in many rural
areas in developing countries where markets are typically imperfect, with apparently a
perpetuating and self-enforcing effect. Kydd and Dorward (2004) argue that the
importance of addressing these types of market failures are often overlooked by
governments in their course of planning and implementing agricultural policies in
developing countries, and suggest a need for governments to play much active roles in
promoting coordination by a wide range of policy measurements including in (but not
limited to) regulatory environments, market infrastructure, and insurance systems, which
also seem to be the case in Laos.
6. Conclusion
Rice has been among the most important food crop in Vientiane, on which a significant
number of its population is dependent on. The Lao Government has been emphasizing its
importance particularly from a food security point of view, and has attempted to
modernize its lowland rice sector through modernization and intensification through
market liberalization, irrigation investments, and introduction of HYVs. As a result,
output has increased drastically through productivity enhancement and acreage expansion
particularly since the mid-90s, and Laos reached domestic sufficiency in rice in the late
90s.

23.
However, ample studies suggest that production are still low in terms of intensity, and
market institution pertinent to the production and distribution of rice remain critically
weak. Under such conditions, contract farming has in recent years been promoted by the
Government to further modernize the sector. This seemed to have led to some positive
results. Rice farming households under contract farming arrangements in Vientiane were,
on average, able to attain higher profits due to higher yields, which suggests that such
private arrangements can, at least to some extent, bridge the formal institutional gaps in
prevailing conditions pertinent in a rural context of a developing country. However, the
stagnating expansion in acreage may well be an outcome of the associated difficulties of
farmers due to institutional coordination failures, providing disincentives to further
commit themselves to a livelihood strategy based on intensified rice cultivation.
While each of the specific policies related to rice cultivation are beneficial to the rice
sector in general, it seems that this has not necessarily played out in its modernization and
upgrading as envisaged. Rather than a collection of narrowly focused set of policies on
rice cultivation, the key to dynamic modernization for a competitive rice sector in Laos
seems to be related to the Government’s capacity to play much positive roles in the
provision of supporting institutions to address coordination failures to make rice
production more profitable and thus desirable as a livelihood strategy, even without
contract farming arrangements.
Acknowledgement
This is a product of research which was financially supported by the Kansai University
Subsidy for Supporting Young Scholars, 2013. Kenta Goto was a visiting researcher at
the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne under the Kansai University’s Overseas
Research Program for the academic year of 2014 when this paper was written. He is
grateful to Professor Pookong Kee for hosting him at the Institute and granting access to
the University’s resources.
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