Land Grabbing and Its Impacts on Local Livelihoods in Southern Laos: A Case Study as Keng Nyai Village in Attapeu Province

The fact that the Lao government grabbed land for leasing to foreign companies on a large scale has changed the livelihoods of local people. The research results were shown by directly inter-viewing 25 households and analysis of secondary documents. In 2013, Keng Nyai village grabbed 301.47 ha of land to plant rubber trees under the project Hoang Anh Gia Lai Vietnam (HAGL), which has affected the traditional livelihood of villagers. On average, each interviewed household acquired 2.42 hectares of land (accounting for 69.58%), which made people lack cultivated land, leading to a decrease in agricultural labor by 27.01%. At the same time, 32.84% of the workers transformed into new jobs related to HAGL’s projects. Many people who have been only accustomed to farming had difficulty finding other jobs and covering daily costs. Waiting for support from land-grabbing organizations is ineffective. Short-term crop cultivation or finding new jobs in big cities and industrial zones have become better income-generating methods for land-grabbed people.