Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHIANGMAI115
2009-08-03 02:23:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Chiang Mai
Cable title:  

LAND CRUNCH AND AGRIBUSINESSES HURT HIGHLAND AGRICULTURE AND

Tags:  PGOV PHUM ECON EAGR EAID ELAB SENV TH 
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VZCZCXRO2756
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHCHI #0115/01 2150223
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 030223Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1130
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1213
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHIANG MAI 000115 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAGR EAID ELAB SENV TH
SUBJECT: LAND CRUNCH AND AGRIBUSINESSES HURT HIGHLAND AGRICULTURE AND
FOOD SECURITY

REF: A. CHIANG MAI 109 (ENVIRONMENTALISM, HILL TRIBES)

B. CHIANG MAI 114 (GREEN POLICIES USED TO EARN GREEN)

C. CHIANG MAI 75 (NGOS ASSIST HILL TRIBES)

D. 08 CHIANG MAI 140 (RELOCATIONS HURT HILL TRIBES)

E. 08 CHIANG MAI 192 (HILL TRIBES PLAGUED BY STATELESSNESS)

F. CHIANG MAI 100 (RUBBER GROWS INTO NEW CASH CROP)

CHIANG MAI 00000115 001.2 OF 003


Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly.

-------------------
Summary and Comment
-------------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHIANG MAI 000115

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAGR EAID ELAB SENV TH
SUBJECT: LAND CRUNCH AND AGRIBUSINESSES HURT HIGHLAND AGRICULTURE AND
FOOD SECURITY

REF: A. CHIANG MAI 109 (ENVIRONMENTALISM, HILL TRIBES)

B. CHIANG MAI 114 (GREEN POLICIES USED TO EARN GREEN)

C. CHIANG MAI 75 (NGOS ASSIST HILL TRIBES)

D. 08 CHIANG MAI 140 (RELOCATIONS HURT HILL TRIBES)

E. 08 CHIANG MAI 192 (HILL TRIBES PLAGUED BY STATELESSNESS)

F. CHIANG MAI 100 (RUBBER GROWS INTO NEW CASH CROP)

CHIANG MAI 00000115 001.2 OF 003


Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly.

--------------
Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (SBU) Agriculturally-dependent hill tribe people, as well as
other upland farmers, face increasing pressures stemming from a
general shortage of available agricultural land, problematic
development policies, and the growth of agribusinesses in
northern Thailand. In recent years, development programs have
encouraged subsistence farmers to adopt cash crop agriculture,
and agribusinesses have struck contract farming deals with
upland farmers. Instead of increasing food security among
highlanders, these initiatives have often created challenges for
small scale farmers. This cable, part three in a three-part
series on highland agriculture and land tenure, will focus on
threats to food security in agricultural communities. Part one
in the series (ref A) focused on the political ecology of
highland agriculture, and part two (ref B) examined the ways in
which environmental policies have been used to displace
highlanders.


2. (SBU) Comment: In meetings with NGOs and academics, post
has found that strategies ostensibly designed to help hill tribe
people and other upland farmers have, in some cases, contributed
to growing food insecurity in previously self-sufficient
communities. These controversial policies may unnecessarily
jeopardize the livelihoods of already vulnerable ethnic hill
tribe minorities and other upland dwellers. End Summary and
Comment.

--------------
The Landless Poor
--------------


3. (SBU) The establishment of national parks and protected

forests has largely come at the expense of forest-dwelling hill
tribe people (ref b and d). Entire villages have been relocated
outside of protected areas, and those without formal land titles
continue to face lawsuits accusing them of encroaching on
national park lands. Villages may be relocated to less fertile
lands, resulting in lower crop yields and increased food
insecurity. Land use restrictions and relocations may also
result in a reduction in the area of land available for each
family's use.


4. (SBU) Aggregation of land by distant landowners has also
contributed to a shortage of available agricultural land.
According to figures from the Northern Development Foundation,
90 percent of the land in Thailand is owned by just 10 percent
of the population, and at least 4.8 million people do not have
enough land to support their livelihoods.


5. (SBU) Distant land owners often hold onto land for
speculative purposes, hoping to one day develop and sell their
lands. Other land owners buy large tracts of land to establish
rubber, palm, or tangerine plantations (ref f). Several NGOs
told us that politically connected landowners pressure small
scale upland farmers to sell their land, threatening eviction
under forestry laws if they refuse.


6. (SBU) While some of these farmers and their children later
end up as laborers on large agricultural plantations, others
migrate to urban areas in search of wage labor. Many of the
highlanders migrating to cities lack Thai citizenship, but face
the risks associated with leaving their home district in order
to find employment (ref d and e).


7. (SBU) As a result of the pressures mentioned above, upland
farmers are facing a land shortage which has hampered economic
development and threatened food security (ref d). Farmers who
continue to practice shifting cultivation now have smaller plots
and shorter fallow periods. One agricultural expert noted that
farmers now have rotations of only 3-5 years when they used to
have rotations of 8-20 years. Without long fallow periods, the
soil becomes less fertile; erosion increases; landslides become
more frequent; and farmers may have difficulty supporting
themselves.

--------------
Land Tenure Impacts Agricultural Strategies
--------------


8. (SBU) Lack of formal land title has affected agricultural
strategies in northern Thailand's uplands. A staff member from

CHIANG MAI 00000115 002.2 OF 003


the Upland Holistic Development Project noted that fear of
arrest and resettlement has kept some highlanders from fully
utilizing their lands and resources (ref c). Knowing that they
could be relocated on short notice, some upland farmers are
simply unwilling to invest in expensive infrastructure which
could improve their productivity.


9. (SBU) On the other hand, some farmers have chosen to
deliberately invest in agricultural infrastructure and to adopt
farming techniques that may enhance their claims to land. In
Nan province, for example, farmers on upland slopes have begun
to construct rice terraces, a highly labor intensive endeavor.
(A recent Bangkok Post article reports that converting just
one-quarter acre of hill slope into rice terraces can take five
workers an entire month.) As visible alterations of forest
ecosystems, these terraces provide proof that the land is being
used for subsistence purposes.


10. (SBU) On the other hand, shifting cultivation involves the
planting of a diverse mix of plants, an agroforestry strategy
that creates plots which do not necessarily look like
traditional agricultural fields (ref c). Furthermore, fallow
fields are sometimes undistinguishable from virgin forest, even
though they are critical to a farmer's livelihood. Farmers
often have a difficult time proving that their fallow plots are
part of their total agricultural lands. (In one case, Hmong and
Karen farmers in Ban Loh Ko, a village located in the middle of
a national park which straddles both Tak and Kamphaeng Phet
provinces, had their fallow lands designated as part of the
protected forest.)


11. (U) Rice cultivation has another advantage for upland
farmers; it is the agricultural technique most closely
associated with Thai identity. One NGO has maintained that
authorities are more inclined to grant rice farmers title to
their lands. One upland village- without land titles and
located within the boundaries of a national park- was granted an
exemption to live and farm there after its inhabitants began
cultivating rice in terraces.

-------------- --------------
Economic Development Policies May Hurt Food Security
-------------- --------------


12. (SBU) NGOs have also told us that economic development
policies have negatively impacted highland farmers (ref D). The
RTG has sought to increase the market competitiveness of Thai
produce and has thus encouraged upland farmers to specialize in
exportable produce. Instead of growing a diverse mix of
vegetables, many upland farmers now grow a single species, a
practice known as "monocropping." Many of these cash crops are
not indigenous to the uplands and are not adapted to upland
conditions. While arguably more efficient than diversified
agriculture, monocropping often requires intensive use of
agrochemicals (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides) and
advanced irrigation systems. The increased use of these
agricultural techniques in the highlands often creates conflicts
between upland farmers and their lowland counterparts over water
use and pollution.


13. (SBU) Forestry policies have also encouraged farmers to
switch from shifting cultivation to permanent plots of cash
crops. In 2004, a village in Tak Province was selected as the
pilot site for the "New Approach to Forest Villages" program.
This project was designed to combat deforestation and restore
forests through the involvement of local communities. Under
this initiative, villagers were encouraged to grow cash crops,
such as fruits, and asked to plant trees on their fallow lands.
Unfortunately, this project has not enhanced the livelihoods of
villagers. Under the shifting cultivation model, villagers had
grown sufficient quantities of rice and vegetables to meet their
subsistence needs. Under the new system, villagers were forced
to sell fruits and purchase rice. Whenever the price of rice
rises or the price of fruit drops, villagers have trouble
meeting their food needs. Furthermore, they cannot return to
shifting cultivation, as they could be accused of destroying
protected forests if they fell any of the trees planted on their
fallow lands as part of the forest restoration program.

--------------
Agribusiness Models Put Small Farmers at Risk
--------------


14. (SBU) The commercialization of upland agriculture has also
increased the costs associated with farming. One NGO noted that
some highlanders are contract farmers, working for
agribusinesses based out of China or Taiwan. While they still
work their own land, they purchase their inputs (e.g. seeds and
agrochemicals) on credit from agribusinesses and sell their
produce back to the agribusiness at the end of the growing
season. However, this farming model places all the risk on the
individual farmer. Should the farmer have a poor yield or

CHIANG MAI 00000115 003.2 OF 003


should the produce not meet the company's standards, the farmer
goes into debt. Even with a bumper crop, farmers may find that
the cost of inputs is higher than their selling price, resulting
in chronic debt.


15. (SBU) A highland agricultural expert told us that many
upland farmers would prefer to maintain a subsistence lifestyle,
but that they need cash in order to pay for their children to go
to school. In the past, upland farmers grew enough food to feed
their families and had little interaction with the cash economy.
Now, however, they must have some cash income to offset the
costs associated with schooling (ref d).


16. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Bangkok.
MORROW