MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Laos
Index
Despite statistics indicating that Laos is one of the
poorest
counties in the world, it has for the most part been
spared the
acute problems often associated with underdevelopment and
poverty.
Famine and serious epidemics have been absent in the
twentieth
century, urban slums have not existed, and debt bondage
has been
unknown. Because the rural economy was not effectively
monetized
through at least the early 1980s, households usually
countered
seasonal crop shortages by increasing their gathering
activities
and relying on wild tubers and other foods as insurance
crops. Most
villages have customs regarding the provision of rice
loans--
sometimes interest-free--to families experiencing a bad
year. Most
shelter in rural areas is self-built and not dependent on
land
ownership or access to money. Thus, it is possible for
most
families to survive at least at a subsistence level,
although for
many the material standard of living is not high. Chronic
marginal
food production and lack of access to or inability to
afford
medical care and education remain pervasive problems,
however.
No reliable statistics regarding income distribution or
the
extent of poverty were available as of mid-1994. A 1988
survey of
income distribution in urban Vientiane found an average
household
monthly income of about K35,000 (for value of the
kip--see Glossary),
or US$70, with the most common income of
between K25,000
and K30,000 per month--about $US55 at the 1988 exchange
rate. With
4.5 persons per average household, the modal figure
implied an
annual per capita income of about US$150, far below the UN
poverty
line of US$275. Whether this survey included noncash
income from
agricultural production or other exchange was unknown,
however;
family crop production was still an important element in
the
economy of many urban Vientiane families. These limited
statistics
emphasize the relative sensitivity of urban residents to
prices and
cash income, particularly when compared with rural
villagers who
were more insulated from the effects of inflation and
market
behavior.
The government does not maintain a social welfare
system, but
the National Committee for Social Welfare and War Veterans
operates
a number of "orphan's schools" in some province centers
and
administers retirement pay to government officials. This
retirement
pay, however, is as insignificant as their salaries were
before
retirement. Orphans, handicapped persons, and elderly
persons
living in rural villages are usually supported and cared
for by
their relatives, although the level of support depends on
the
economic resources of the caretakers. Lowland Lao are
traditionally
tolerant of mentally handicapped members of their
community, and
these persons, although not economically productive, are
allowed to
live with their families and move around the village at
will. This
family approach to social welfare operates in the towns as
well,
often on a neighborhood basis but particularly relying on
extended
kinship networks. As a consequence, urban beggars were
unknown
between 1975 and about 1987, although a small number
appeared in
Vientiane after that date, perhaps reflecting the increase
in urban
economic differentiation as much as any increase in acute
poverty.
Regional and ethnic discrepancies remain the greatest
source of
poverty and poor living conditions. Many lowland villages
are
prosperous, regularly produce a rice surplus, and assist a
small
number of less well-off households within their
boundaries. Other
villages, particularly those in the uplands or of
minorities who
had recently relocated to lowland sites, are less well off
and
often unable to produce enough rice for village
consumption. In
these situations, the ability to produce other salable
commodities,
whether livestock, opium, or vegetables, or to find
wage-labor
jobs, is critical to the well-being of the household and
the
village. In settings where an entire village is
rice-deficient,
interfamily exchanges and rice loans cannot ameliorate the
basic
shortage affecting the community. Acute regional crop
shortfalls in
several years between 1989 and 1993 were largely met by
rice
imports provided through foreign aid. As market networks
expand and
as the economy becomes increasingly monetized and
population growth
and resettlement increase pressure on land resources, the
number of
villages in marginal economic situations can be expected
to
increase.
Data as of July 1994
|
|