2017-06-05
Agrarian or small-scale,
household-based farming and ‘artisanal fishing’ characterized by its small
scale and low technology, have been the cornerstones of the region’s largely
rural economies for many centuries. That is now changing. As policy, the Lower
Mekong countries are shifting toward industrialized agriculture with a focus on
commercial cash crops for export. Even so, the populations remain largely rural
and the rice and fish production of small-holders continues to contribute
significantly to local economies, not to mention household and community food
security.
Mekong River fishing.
Photo by Christine
Andrada, Flickr, taken 29 October 2008. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Key crops
Rice dominates production,
at both commercial and household levels. The Lower Mekong countries produced
more than 102 million tons of paddy rice in 2016, around 14% of the world
total.1 While
a large percentage of this rice goes to local trade and remains within the
countries, the region is also a significant exporter of rice to the world.
Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia are among the top ten countries in the
world for rice exports.
Other important export
crops include corn (maize), sugar, soy beans, cassava, coffee and natural
rubber. Thailand was the world’s biggest natural rubber producer in 2015, its
4.5 million tonnes accounting for 36 percent of global production.2 In recent
years rubber has expanded significantly in both Laos and Cambodia, with major
investment by Vietnamese companies in southern Laos and Cambodia, and Chinese
investment in northern Laos and Myanmar. In 2015, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar made up nearly 10 percent of world production.3
However, the market price of rubber fell by more than two-thirds 2011–2016, and
this has had a large impact on earnings.4
While coffee exports from
number one global producer, Brazil, have been declining in recent years,
Vietnam’s coffee exports have increased more than 9 percent between
2011 and 2015. Vietnam is second only to Brazil for coffee exports; also an
important product in Laos, where it is the fifth largest export, though on a
much smaller scale than Vietnam.5
Fisheries and aquaculture
The Mekong system is
second only to the Amazon River in its biodiversity and it supports
the world’s largest inland fishery. The people who live along its banks
and within reach of its rich fisheries depend on it as a food source. Fish is
estimated to supply 75% of people’s protein in some areas.6 The
Mekong River Commission estimated in 2015 that 4.4 million tons of aquatic
products are caught from the river every year,7 worth up
to an estimated $17 billion a year,8 making up
about 2.4 percent of the GDP of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
The region also has
access to significant ocean fisheries in the Andaman Sea, Gulf of Thailand, and
South China Sea. Thailand and Vietnam were the number three and four top global
exporters of fish and fishery products respectively, based on value.9 Thailand
is also a significant importer of seafood.10
Changing practices
The intensification of
agriculture and fishing includes a push toward larger holdings, mechanized
farming, large-scale commercial fishing and fisheries, increased
regulation, and the transfer of land and resource rights to companies through
both sales and expropriation. While these practices generally
support increased production for export, they also tend to disadvantage
small holders, as they have in other parts of the world. A number of
aid programs are aimed at helping small-scale farmers and fishers adapt
their practices to a market economy.
With his 31 year-old
brother Tran Ngoc An, this progressive farmer, Tran Ngoc Diep 30 (above),
operates a six-hectare farm in An Giang’s My Thoi village that has been so
successful that other farmers come to study its methods. Photograph
VA036048, No Date, William Foulke Collection, The Vietnam Center and
Archive, Texas Tech University. Accessed 19 March 2015. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
The region has seen a
trend towards value-added processing for agricultural and fish products, rather
than selling raw materials. Thailand and Vietnam have been doing this for many
years, especially with fermented and dried fish for use in the manufacture of
products such as sauces and pastes. The listed Thai company Charoen
Pokphand Foods (also known as CP) is one of the top agro-food companies in
Asia-Pacific and an example of companies processing and adding value to
products in the region.11
Pesticides and other
chemicals
The effects of increased
use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in intensive farming of crops and
aquaculture do not appear to have been systematically measured in the region.
However, widespread use of a variety of chemicals, including ones banned in
other parts of the world, has been recognized in many reports, along with the
observation that chemicals tend to be handled improperly and few to no
precautions taken with their use. The fact that labeling and instructions are
often in languages other than native ones, particularly in Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar, further exacerbates the situation.
With the exception of
Myanmar, all Lower Mekong countries have approved the Rotterdam Convention on
the trade and use of pesticides internationally,12 and have
government representation for reporting and information sharing. Nonetheless,
both pesticide and chemical fertilizer use are known to be high, as farmers
often increase their use to try to maximize production. A number of aid
agencies, such as FAO, as well as national extension services and academic
institutions promote Integrated Pest Management and organic farming to curb the
harmful use of chemicals across the region, particularly among small-scale
farmers.
Sustainability
A child looks over a pump
irrigating a rice field in Cambodia. Photo by Asian
Development Bank, Flickr, taken 15 February 2011. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Population pressures are
also putting strain on agrarian systems. Like other parts of Asia, agriculture
continues to be characterized by smallholder farmers cultivating less than two
hectares, and mostly dependent on household members for labor.13 Data
on average smallholder farm size is difficult to find14,
however, increasing family size and the sale or transfer of land to larger
holdings, are both reducing the average size of smallholders’ land.
Agrarian communities are
also losing access to forests and fallow fields, which have traditionally
provided grazing areas for livestock and supplementary foods, such as wild
herbs, fruits, honey, mushrooms, and even insects, and in some cases provided
cash incomes, as in the case of resin collection.15 Also
when farmers can no longer afford to leave their fields fallow on a rotational
basis, this puts strain on soils and tends to decrease productivity. All
of these trends may negatively affect the food security of some households.
The UN’s Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) started an Asia/Pacific regional initiative to
support the UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge. Laos and Myanmar were among the first
countries involved, but the program has been expanded to include all Lower
Mekong countries.16 In
January 2016, at a workshop involving national Ministries of Agriculture,
Ministries of Health and FAO Representatives, three main thematic components
were adopted for 2016-2017:
Formulate food security
and nutrition strategy, policy and coordination mechanisms
Promote
nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Conduct data analysis and
monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for decision-making.
The FAO’s initiative
directly contributes to achieving SDG 2, the eradication of hunger by 2030.
Programs by the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the UN have stated
aims of addressing both food security and extreme poverty.17 Even
so, agricultural policies in the region sometimes conflict, depending on
whether they are being driven by concerns for poverty reduction and food
security or for economic development. While economic development policies tend
to emphasize large-scale agro-business to increase agricultural commodities production18, rural
development programs continue to encourage small-scale agricultural holdings
that are sometimes at odds with the goal to expand and intensify commercial
production.
Related to agriculture
and fishing
References
1.
International Rice Research Institute. “World Rice Statistics.” Accessed 2 June
2017. http://ricestat.irri.org:8080/wrs.
2. Krungsri
Research. Thailand Industry Outlook 2016-18 rubber industry. May 2016. Accessed
2 June 2017. https://www.krungsri.com/bank/getmedia/1d1b8758-8da1-44e3-af42-962b0b9f7506/IO_Rubber_2016_EN.aspx
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5.
International Coffee Organization. “Total production by all exporting
countries.” 2016. Accessed 11 March 2016. http://www.ico.org/prices/po-production.pdf
6. Hortle,
K. G. 2007. Consumption and the Yield of Fish and Other Aquatic Animals from
the Lower Mekong Basin. MRC Technical Paper No. 16. Vientiane: Mekong River
Commission.
7. Mekong
River Commission, 20 Years of Cooperation, Page 38. Accessed 3 June 2017. http://www.mrcmekong.org/assets/Publications/20th-year-MRC-2016-.pdf
8. Mekong
River Commission, Catch & Culture Vol.21, No3. 5 Jan 2016. Accessed 3 June
2017. http://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/newsletters/catch-and-culture-vol-21-no-3/
9.
Rabobank. Rabobank World Seafood Trade Map 2015. Rabobank Industry Note #486.
Accessed 3 June 2017. http://www.aquacircle.org/images/pdfdokumenter/efterret15/Rabobank_IN486_World_Seafood_Trade_Map_Nikolik_March2015.pdf
10. Ibid
11. Charoen
Pokphand Foods PCL. “About Us.” Accessed 16 June 2015.
http://www.cpfworldwide.com/en/about/.
12.
Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention. “Status of Ratifications.” Accessed 8 April
2015.
http://www.pic.int/Countries/Statusofratifications/tabid/1072/language/en-US/Default.aspx#a-note-1.
13. Thapa,
Ganesh and Raghav Gaiha. 2011. Smallholder Farming in Asia and the Pacific:
Challenges and Opportunities. Rome: International Fund for Agricultural
Development. Accessed 18 June 2015.
http://www.ifad.org/events/agriculture/doc/papers/ganesh.pdf.
14. FAO.
“Agricultural Development Economics: Smallholder Dataportrait.” Accessed 19
June 2015.
http://www.fao.org/economic/esa/esa-activities/esa-smallholders/dataportrait/income-pluri-and-poverty/en/.
15. Prey
Lang Community Network. 2015. Prey Lang Commune Research Report 2013-2014.
Cambodia: Prey Lang Community Network. Accessed 18 June 2015.
http://preylang.net/download/reports/PreyLang%20report%20English%20Version.pdf.
View
this on Open Development Datahub
16. FAO.
“Asia and the Pacific’s Zero Hunger Challenge”. Accessed 3 June 2017. http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/perspectives/zero-hunger/en/
17.
International Fund for Agricultural Development. “Laos: Southern Laos Food and
Nutrition Security and Market Linkages Programme.” Accessed 16 June 2015.
http://www.ifad.org/operations/pipeline/pi/laos_fnml.htm; “Farming First:
Enhancing Sustainable Development Through Agriculture.” Accessed 16 June 2015.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/dsd/dsd_aofw_mg/mg_pdfs/mg_csd17_comm_posi.pdf.
18. World
Health Organization. “Food Security.” Accessed 16 June 2015.
http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/
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