This document summarizes large scale land acquisitions in the Mekong region, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. It outlines the agricultural structure and population dynamics in each country. It also describes the mechanisms, spatial patterns, and characteristics of land concessions in the region. The impacts of land deals are discussed, such as deforestation, land speculation, tenure insecurity, and conflicts. The document concludes by examining counter-movements and new regulations enacted in some countries to address the issues caused by large land acquisitions.

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 !