Building an Evidence Base for Policy Formulation in the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector in Lao PDR
Senior officials in the Lao government and concerned organizations and business enterprises are increasingly interested in policy formulation based on science and evidence-based research. Technical assistance and funding for policy research is increasingly linked to hard scientific evidence and demonstrated success in the belief that better policies will be formulated, and existing policy implementation gaps will be addressed. Decision-makers continue to seek solutions to persistent challenges to sustainable agricultural development that form the research agenda for the Policy Think Tank. These are: Agricultural technology issues, Farmer organization issues, Livestock technology and fishery issues, Agro-economic issues, Agrobiodiversity issues, Agricultural land issues, Forest management issues, and Nutrition agriculture sensitivity
Table of contents
| Contents |
Page Number |
| Acknowledgments |
VIII |
| Introduction |
1 |
| Sustainable Commercial Agricultural Production: A Case Study of Commercialized Banana Production |
3 |
| Development of Benzoin Upstream Value Chains for Uplands of The Lao PDR |
9 |
| Cassava Value Chains in Champasak and Salavan Provinces |
13 |
| Factors and Implications of Sustainable Commercialization of Cattle Production |
19 |
| Factors and Implications of Sustainable Commercialization of Indigenous Banana Varieties |
23 |
| Opportunities for Sustainable Commercial White Charcoal Production |
28 |
| Sustainable Fisheries for Food and Nutrition Security |
32 |
| Farmers access to credit |
38 |
| Poverty Dynamics and Sustained Escapes out of Poverty |
43 |
| Identification of Good Ecotourism Practices for Sustainable Development in National Protected Areas of Northern Lao PDR |
48 |
| Agricultural Insurance a Case Study of Rice and Pigs |
54 |
| Gender Empowerment and Agricultural Production in Lao PDR |
61 |
| Leveraging Geo-Economic Proximity and Agricultural Commercialiation |
66 |
| Unlocking the Full Potential of Lao PDR’s Tea Sector |
77 |
| Bibliography |
85 |