Food Problems and Migration among the Hmong Tribe in Laos

Transcript

1 Food Problems and Migration among the Hmong Tribe in Laos Motoyoshi* and Y6HJ> Kiyoko** Swidden farming, which has long been practiced by upland ethnic groups in the mountainous areas of Laos, is now criticized for destroying forests and the environment. It must be noted that swidden farming has been the only method of food production for upland people. Under conditions of fertile soil and a scattered population, farmers could practice shifting cultivation with a long fallow cycle and produce a good harvest. But now several factors, including demographic growth, soil quality degradation, and the promulgation of land allocation decrees, have forced the fallow cycle to become shorter, a situation which requires more labor input for weeding to overcome lowered productivity. At our research site, Houayxon Village, Samnuea District, Houaphan Province, villagers predict that they will be unable to continue swidden farming in the near future because of degradated natural conditions and the government s enforcement of its policy prohibiting swidden farming. This situation has divided villagers into two camps. Some villagers have decided to move down to the foot of the mountains in search of rice paddy fields, and others have decided to remain in the mountains. This paper aims to explain, through analyzing empirical interview data, why different decisions were made by different villagers. Finally, it proposes some possible methods of increasing food production for the people living in the mountains. Keywords: swidden farming, opium production, food problem, Hmong tribe * Suzuka International University, Koriyama-cho, Suzuka City, Mie, Japan ** Faculty of Foreign Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Asahi-cho, Fuchu City, Tokyo, Japan 23

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4 CIA III Laos Cooperation and Planning Commission Laos Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 26

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19 km km Asian Development Bank.. The Government s Strategic Vision for the Agricultural Sector. Boserup, E.. The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change under Population Pressure. George Allen & Unwin Ltd. JICAJICA Laos Cooperation and Planning Commission.. Fourth Five Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (+330,***). Laos Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.. Vision for Agricultural and Forestry Development until the Year,*,*. W World Bank.. World Development Report. 41