Use of Natural Biological Resources and Their Roles in Household Food Security in Northwest Laos

Abstract

The present study focuses on agriculture-forestry-based livelihood systems of Northwestern Lao people through village studies, including semi-structured group interviews, questionnaire survey, participatory observation and wealth ranking in Luang Namtha province. The study also examined the use of natural biological resources and identified their roles in household economy. The study revealed that lowland, hillside and mountain villages have different sets of farming practices including lowland paddy and shifting cultivations and natural biological resources use under the given agro-ecological setting, and natural biological resources play a crucial role in household food security in terms of providing an important source of cash income, particularly for poor people. Multiple functions of forest resources including bio-diversity conservation, fallow for coming cultivation and production of non-timber forest products should be further examined in order to guide development toward environmental conservation, food security and poverty alleviation.