Local Initiatives to Link Farmers to Markets in Upland Laos

Abstract

Upland communities in Laos have the benefit of access to relatively large tracts of land, compared with neighboring countries. Yet these communities use their resources mainly for subsistence production (Figure 1). Adding value to agricultural and forest products remains difficult: replacing products that are depleted in the wild with plantations takes time—often requiring a considerable initial investment in land preparation and maintenance—and there is little capital to invest in technology that could add value to products. In addition, poor road access keeps transport costs high and often it is difficult to store products and benefit from seasonal price changes. Underlying all these difficulties is a lack of information on markets: who are the customers, where are they based, how is the price set, what are the quality standards, how can we process, store, package, and handle products? Market awareness projects in northern Laos are showing that these sorts of challenges can be overcome.