Laos, officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is a rapidly growing developing economy at the heart of Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma, Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Laos’ economic growth over the last decade averaged just below eight percent, placing Laos amongst…

For more than a decade, the government of Lao PDR has promoted commercial uses of agricultural land by private investors. While investment in land has enormous potential to promote Laos’ economic development, benefits have been unevenly distributed across society. Some business practices…

For more than a decade, the government of Lao PDR has promoted commercial uses of agricultural land by private investors. While investment in land has enormous potential to promote Laos’ economic development, benefits have been unevenly distributed across society. Some business practices…

Recognising that trade drives illegal logging and that poor governance enables it, the European Union (EU) developed the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. Effective participation of all actors — especially staff from governments, the private sector and civil…

This brochure presents recent digital innovations that enable a more effective, efficient and transparentin land management. It refers to examples in Peru, Ethiopia and Laos.

This document is the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) for the second Lao Road Sector Project Additional Financing (LRSP2-AF, AF, or the Project) and is being proposed for possible financing from the World Bank (WB). The proposed Project (LRSP2-AF) builds on the achievements of the second Lao…

The aim of this policy paper is to present successful approaches to secure land tenure rights in rural and urban areas. To support future programmatic decisions by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), this paper focusses especially on impacts and good practices.…

Since 2010, the GIZ Land Programme in Lao PDR has sought to improve the land tenure security of rural communities. The programme currently consists of three projects – the BMZ-commissioned Land Management and Decentralised Planning (LMDP) Project, the Enhanced Land Tenure Security (ELTeS) sub-…

This policy brief was developed in order to enable a meaningful engagement and policy dialogue with government institutions and other relevant stakeholders about challenges and opportunities related to the recognition of customary tenure in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Customary tenure…

The Annual Country Reviews reflect upon current land issues in the Mekong Region, and has been produced for researchers, practitioners and policy advocates operating in the field. Specialists have been selected from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to briefly answer the following…

The rapid expansion of hybrid maize in the uplands of northern Laos is viewed by the government as meeting policy aims related to green economic development. Yet, growing evidence of negative consequences of maize expansion are emerging. Based on farmers’ perceptions, we study: (1) farmers’…

FAO’s current cooperation with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic focuses on fostering agriculturalproduction and rural development, improving food security and nutrition, protecting and enhancingforests and other ecosystems and improving the capacity to respond to food and agricultural…