Large Scale Land Acquisition in the Mekong Comparative overview and regional dynamics

1. Large Scale Land Acquisition in the Mekong
Comparative overview and regional dynamics
J.-C. Diepart, MRLG
Content
• Agrarian Structure
• Spatiality of concessions
• Mechanism of land acquisition
• Characteristics of deals
• Impacts
• Counter-movements and
regulation

2. Myanmar
% Agric. Pop. 66% 
% Agric. in GDP 38% 
% Agric. in FDI 0.4% 
Viet-Nam
% Agric. Pop. 61% 
% Agric. in GDP 19% 
% Agric. in FDI 1.3%
Laos
% Agric. Pop. 74% 
% Agric. in GDP 25% 
% Agric. in FDI 12%
Cambodia
% Agric. Pop. 64% 
% Agric. in GDP 35% 
% Agric. in FDI 6% 
Trajectories and Agrarian Structure

3. Myanmar
Pop. Density 84 p.km-2
Agric. Landless 30-50% 
Land area size (in 2013)
Smallholder 13 M. ha
Concession 2.1 M. ha
Viet-Nam
Pop. Density 296 p.km-2
Agric. Landless 12 % 
Land area size (in 2013)
Smallholder 10M. ha
Concession 0.3 M. ha
Laos
Pop. Density 30 p.km-2
Agric. Landless ?
Land area size (in 2012)
Smallholder 1.1 M. ha
Concession 1.1 M. ha
Cambodia
Pop. Density 83 p.km-2
Agric. Landless 26 % 
Land area size (in 2012)
Smallholder 3.1 M. ha
Concession 4.4 M. ha
Trajectories and Agrarian Structure

4. Spatiality of Large Scale Land Concessions

5. Cambodia
• Economic Land Concession on
Private State Land
• Land Law (2001) & Law on
Forestry (2002) > MAFF
• Law on Protected Area (2008)
> MoE
• Ceiling: 10,000 ha
Mechanisms of Land Acquisition

6. Mechanisms of Land Acquisition
Myanmar
• Concession on ‘Wasteland’
(1991)
• VFV Law (2012) > VFV Central
Committee
• Forest Law (1992) > MoECAF
• Foreign Investment Law
(2012)> DICA
• Armed Groups

7. Laos
• Lease – Concession on State
Land (Degraded forest and
barren land)
• Land Law (2003) and Forestry
Law (2007) > MoNRE
• Law on Investment Promotion
(2009) > MPI
• Multiple levels of authorities
based on concession size
Mechanisms of Land Acquisition

8. Viet-Nam
• State Land
• Land Law (2013) and
Investment Law (2014)
• Lease (50 years)
• Sub-Lease (not from
smallholders)
• Contract farming
Mechanisms of Land Acquisition

9. Mechanisms of Land Acquisition
• Several jurisdiction sometime
overlapping, weak coordination
• Rules are often overridden by local
politics & power relations

10. Laos (in 2012)
# Deals: 726
Average: 612 ha
Characteristics of deals (agriculture & forestry)
Cambodia (in 2012)
# Deals: 271
Average: 9,401 ha
Viet-Nam (in 2013)
# Deals: 9
Average: 34,300 ha
Myanmar (in 2011)
# Deals: 225
Average: 3,368 ha
© ODM & Diepart 2015 © Schonweger et al., 2012
© Land matrix© MoAI, MoECaF

11. Main productions (% total area size)
© ODM, 2016 & Diepart, 2015 © Schonweger et al., 2012
© Land matrix© MoAI, MoECaF

12. Origin of investors (% total area size)
© Schonweger et al., 2012
© Land matrix
© ODM, 2016 & Diepart, 2015

13. Regional investment flows (# Deals)

14. Clusters of Concessions

15. Clusters of Concessions

16. Impacts
C M L V
Deforestation +++ +++++

17. Deforestation

18. Impacts
C M L V
Land speculation
(under investment)
+++ +++
Low return to
national economy
23% of concession
planted (Woods,
2015)
6% of concession
planted (Sperfeld
etal., 2012)
- - -
5 M. USD in 2015
(PPP, 2016)

19. Impacts
C M L V
Land Tenure
Insecurity
(alienation CPR)
Conflicts/
evictions
Poverty
Reduction
Labor
Employment
+++ +++ +++
? ?
+ / - + / -
+++ +++ +++ +++
+++
Contract Farming + / - + / -

20. Counter-movements and regulations
• Popular mobilization and demonstration
• Disciplining measures: corporate accountability
(CSR)
• Innovative mechanisms ‘Follow-the-Money’
• Sub-national tailor-made solutions
• Regulations by Governments

21. Cambodia: Order 01 for more effective management of concessions

22. Counter-movements and regulations
Myanmar
• Parliamentary Land
Confiscation
Commission (2012)
• 115,000 Hectares land
• Centered on Urban
Areas and Urban
Development Projects
• Status of re-distribution
unclear
Distribution of land area size (115,000 ha)

23. Counter-movements and regulations
Laos
• Moratorium (2012)
• Re-inventory of land concessions and lease
• Revision of contract
Viet-Nam
• Redistribution of land from State Forest Enterprises to
smallholders
• Policy discussion on how to make contract farming
scheme work for companies and smallholders

24. Thank you !