Boom and bust: Variegated livelihood pathways among rural households in the banana boom in northern Laos
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Crop booms are a significant driver of change for both rural landscapes and smallholder livelihoods. Cavendish bananas have boomed in northern Laos and replaced maize, the previous boom crop, through land leasing contracts between farmers and Chinese companies. This study of two villages in Oudomxay Province explores rural households' participation in this banana boom and the conjunctures that shape variegated livelihood pathways and outcomes. Household participation in the banana boom depended on their assets (land and labour), livelihood context and social pressure. Household income in both villages generally improved, but differentially. The better-off, and those with a wider array of livelihood options, used income from bananas to move to primarily non-agricultural livelihoods, while many poorer households became dependent on wage labour in banana production, at the expense of their health. Women reported to be content to escape agricultural labour through land leasing; but many who contributed labour to banana production felt trapped in ongoing heavy labour, with attendant adverse impacts. These outcomes reflect how the conjunctures of different household, community and external elements, and crop boom-bust cycles, lead to differentiated (‘variegated’) household livelihood trajectories and outcomes for households and for men and women, and suggest points of policy intervention.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Asia Pacific Viewpoint |
ISSN | 1360-7456 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Asia Pacific Viewpoint published by Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
- banana boom, labour contracts, land leasing, livelihood change, northern Laos
Research areas
ID: 397599914