Partnership Increases Productivity and Profits in the Lao PDR

The natural resources of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) have been experiencing severe pressure from unsustainable farming practices coupled with a surge in foreign agricultural investments. Without proper intervention, Lao PDR’s environment and natural resources will no longer be sustainable and hundreds of marginalized communities in the country will be pushed further into poverty.

In response, Lao PDR’s government, private sector, and local communities partnered together, with assistance from the Asian Development Bank, to protect the country’s natural resources, increase farmer incomes, and enhance agricultural productivity. This win-win partnership led to five pilot projects in five provinces, where farmers, businesses, and the government worked together in establishing farmer production groups.

This article shows how the farmer production groups rallied behind specific products, and how the private sector and the government supported their endeavor. The groups—comprised of farmers in the five pilot sites of Attapeu, Champasak, Salavanh, Savanakhet, and Sekong—worked on rice production, livestock, cashew production, and Bong tree cultivation.

This brief also shares the success of the partnerships in these five pilots, which significantly increased farmer productivity and incomes. It also tells how, through a win-win partnership, 71 more subprojects are now being implemented in the country, benefitting 230,000 households in 1,895 villages in 42 districts in Lao PDR.