MarketLINK Lao

Remote villages in Laos traditionally produce everything they need to eat or use. Farmers spread their time over many products, using simple technologies, and therefore obtaining low yields and small volumes of each product. It is hard for farmers to imagine that any one of these products could become a reliable source of income. For farmers to attract traders, they need to focus on fewer products, and produce volume and quality required by the market.

The first challenge for farmers is to know what products they should focus their efforts on. The products they select should give them a good return for their labor, have a stable or increasing demand, and be produced without threatening their resource base. Beyond selecting a product, farmers should also understand market systems, including quality requirements, seasonal variation in prices, etc. They can then take advantage of these opportunities to develop their production and obtain better prices.

Most market systems operating in Laos are poorly developed and inefficient. This means there are many opportunities for 'win-win' situations that will benefit both farmers and traders. By addressing the issue of markets first, and working with the whole market system or market chain, we can actually stimulate production.

Why focus on Conservation?

Village forests and natural resources make up the natural storehouse of good and services for village people. Most village people are not or very tenuously connected to the market economy and therefore depend on the health of natural systems to feed, house and keep them healthy. By implementing a program designed to benefit village people financially but to do so with conservation incentives built in, VFI will help villages both conserve resources and improve their livelihoods.

Of course, there are other, more intrinsic, reasons for conservation at the village level as well (beauty, wildlife conservation, etc.) but the most compelling argument for most village people is one that includes an economic incentive for them.