Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR

Nanhthavong, Vong; Oberlack, Christoph; Hett, Cornelia; Messerli, Peter; Epprecht, Michael (2021). Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR. Global environmental change, 68, p. 102252. Elsevier 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102252

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Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. How-ever, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to provide a national-scale assessment of the impacts of land acquisitions on human well-being in 294 affected villages. The results show that land acquisitions influence human well-being through 18 distinct pathways. These pathways describe how some land acquisitions enhance or maintain well-being, while others elicit adverse im-pacts or trade-offs between well-being dimensions, particularly food security, income, and livelihood resilience. They further reveal five archetypical processes that mediate the effects of land acquisitions on well-being through: (i) shifting access to land and natural resources; (ii) commercialization of agriculture; (iii) availability of development opportunities; (iv) environmental impacts; and (v) employment opportunities within and outside land acquisitions. These processes affect well-being by shaping livelihood portfolios and dependence on natural resources. The majority of land acquisitions trigger trade-offs or adverse impacts on well-being. The small number of villages where well-being increased despite the presence of land acquisitions were mainly shaped by narrow and rigid preconditions. The archetypical processes and the explanatory factors suggest that it is imperative to protect smallholders’ land-use rights and to avoid large-scale deals, as their adverse impacts outweigh opportunities and are more severe than the impacts of small-scale acquisitions. Employment opportunities may provide additional cash income but should not be exclusively relied upon.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Wyss Academy for Nature
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

Graduate School:

International Graduate School North-South (IGS North-South)

UniBE Contributor:

Oberlack, Christoph, Hett, Cornelia, Messerli, Peter, Epprecht, Michael

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services
500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
900 History > 910 Geography & travel

ISSN:

0959-3780

Publisher:

Elsevier

Projects:

[432] Lao DECIDE info Project

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Messerli

Date Deposited:

19 Apr 2021 13:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:50

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102252

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/155506

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/155506

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