5.1 Introduction
In the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, the agricultural sector is dominated
by smallholder farmers. Rapid rates of population growth, among other factors,
have triggered over the last few decades an expansion and intensification of
agricultural systems in these ecologically fragile areas, leading to deforestation
and the overuse of natural resources (see Chap. 1). While poverty has been reduced,
environmental problems such as soil erosion, landslides and declining soil fertility
have become more severe, threatening the long-term livelihood strategies of local
populations. The combination of poverty and environmental degradation remains
an important issue in these areas, as the poor are both the first in line to pay for its
negative consequences and at the same time significant contributors through their
agricultural activities.
Addressing sustainable development in fragile upland areas thus requires a good
understanding of the economic incentives that drive natural resource use by
smallholder farmers. In rural areas, poverty is often related to limited access to
finance and investment opportunities, and is often seen as a key driver of environmental degradation, as it can lead to the expansion of production systems within
fragile areas and induces short-sighted agricultural behaviors; for example, the
planting of maize without soil cover on very steep slopes. Whether such a causal
relationship can actually be established remains intensely debated in the literature
(Dasgupta and Ma ¨ler 1995; Dasgupta et al. 2005; Duraiappah 1998; Reardon and
Vosti 1995; Scherr 2000), for as noted by these authors, the nature and strength of
the linkages between poverty and the environment tend in fact to be site-specific
and dependent upon, among other factors, the institutional framework in place, the
type of poverty being experienced, the level of inequality and the type of environmental problems in question.
The objective of this chapter is to shed light on the nature of the linkages
between poverty and the environment in the mountainous areas of mainland
Southeast Asia, and to derive pro-poor policy recommendations that promote
sustainable development in these regions. This chapter draws on empirical research
conducted in northern Vietnam between 2007 and 2011, and on one case study
conducted in northern Thailand in 2011.
After defining poverty and presenting the main explanatory approaches taken
regarding the linkages between rural poverty and the use of natural resources in
Sects. 5.2 and 5.3 presents the Vietnamese data and will explore empirically the
linkages between poverty and access to capital, exposure and susceptibility to risks,
and risk preference and discount rates. In Sect. 5.4 we test different hypotheses
linking poverty with behavior related to natural resources, explore income diversification strategies (Sect. 5.4.1), short-term input use (Sect. 5.4.2) and longer-term
investment in natural resources (Sect. 5.4.3). Section 5.5 concludes and derives
policy implications.
176
C. Saint-Macary et al.
In the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, the agricultural sector is dominated
by smallholder farmers. Rapid rates of population growth, among other factors,
have triggered over the last few decades an expansion and intensification of
agricultural systems in these ecologically fragile areas, leading to deforestation
and the overuse of natural resources (see Chap. 1). While poverty has been reduced,
environmental problems such as soil erosion, landslides and declining soil fertility
have become more severe, threatening the long-term livelihood strategies of local
populations. The combination of poverty and environmental degradation remains
an important issue in these areas, as the poor are both the first in line to pay for its
negative consequences and at the same time significant contributors through their
agricultural activities.
Addressing sustainable development in fragile upland areas thus requires a good
understanding of the economic incentives that drive natural resource use by
smallholder farmers. In rural areas, poverty is often related to limited access to
finance and investment opportunities, and is often seen as a key driver of environmental degradation, as it can lead to the expansion of production systems within
fragile areas and induces short-sighted agricultural behaviors; for example, the
planting of maize without soil cover on very steep slopes. Whether such a causal
relationship can actually be established remains intensely debated in the literature
(Dasgupta and Ma ¨ler 1995; Dasgupta et al. 2005; Duraiappah 1998; Reardon and
Vosti 1995; Scherr 2000), for as noted by these authors, the nature and strength of
the linkages between poverty and the environment tend in fact to be site-specific
and dependent upon, among other factors, the institutional framework in place, the
type of poverty being experienced, the level of inequality and the type of environmental problems in question.
The objective of this chapter is to shed light on the nature of the linkages
between poverty and the environment in the mountainous areas of mainland
Southeast Asia, and to derive pro-poor policy recommendations that promote
sustainable development in these regions. This chapter draws on empirical research
conducted in northern Vietnam between 2007 and 2011, and on one case study
conducted in northern Thailand in 2011.
After defining poverty and presenting the main explanatory approaches taken
regarding the linkages between rural poverty and the use of natural resources in
Sects. 5.2 and 5.3 presents the Vietnamese data and will explore empirically the
linkages between poverty and access to capital, exposure and susceptibility to risks,
and risk preference and discount rates. In Sect. 5.4 we test different hypotheses
linking poverty with behavior related to natural resources, explore income diversification strategies (Sect. 5.4.1), short-term input use (Sect. 5.4.2) and longer-term
investment in natural resources (Sect. 5.4.3). Section 5.5 concludes and derives
policy implications.
176
C. Saint-Macary et al.