Abstract
Swidden farming, which has long been practiced by upland ethnic groups in the mountainous areas of Laos, is now criticized for destroying forests and the environment. It must be noted that swidden farming has been the only method of food production for upland people. Under conditions of fertile soil and a scattered population, farmers could practice shifting cultivation with a long fallow cycle and produce a good harvest. But now several factors, including demographic growth, soil quality degradation, and the promulgation of land allocation decrees, have forced the fallow cycle to become shorter, a situation which requires more labor input for weeding to overcome lowered productivity.
At our research site, Houayxon Village, Samnuea District, Houaphan Province, villagers predict that they will be unable to continue swidden farming in the near future because of degradated natural conditions and the government’s enforcement of its policy prohibiting swidden farming. This situation has divided villagers into two camps. Some villagers have decided to move down to the foot of the mountains in search of rice paddy fields, and others have decided to remain in the mountains.
This paper aims to explain, through analyzing empirical interview data, why different decisions were made by different villagers. Finally, it proposes some possible methods of increasing food production for the people living in the mountains.
