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Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR Olivier Joffre and Yumiko Kura Resilience 2014, Montpellier 8 th Mai 2014
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Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

May 19, 2015

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Olivier Joffre from WorldFish presents on hydropower development in Lao PDR (Mekong Basin) and how that is affecting local livelihoods and adaptation. Find out more about what WLE/CPWF is doing in the Mekong: http://bit.ly/SzaOGi
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Page 1: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation:

a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Olivier Joffre and Yumiko KuraResilience 2014, Montpellier 8th Mai 2014

Page 2: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Water Resource Development in the Lower Mekong Basin

• Trans-boundary river system over the territories of six countries: Myanmar, Cambodia, China (Yunnan Province), Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam

• Rapid increase in hydropower dams: at least 110 existing or planned, 22 operational or under construction in Lao PDR alone.

• Negative impacts predicted on the world’s largest wild freshwater fishery (2.1 million metric tons/year, 5 times the production of entire West Europe)

• About 40 million rural people (2/3 of population in LMB) derive livelihood benefits from capture fisheries

Page 3: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

3

T-H Extension Project

NG Reservoir and resettlement villages

Case Study in Lao PDR – Upstream Site • 180 Households from 4

villages upstream of the dam were resettled to a single site near the new reservoir

Page 4: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Objectives of the Case Study• To understand how local communities use the river water, river

ecosystems and later reservoir ecosystem

• To assess the economic importance of the river and reservoir for local livelihood and income

• To compare water use patterns and economic values before and after the resettlement

Page 5: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

FGDs and Stakeholder

Consultation

Upstream HH survey in

4 villagesBefore

Resettlement100 HH

April 2011 Sept. 2012

Upstream HH survey in 4

villages After Resettlement

100 HH

Validation Workshop

May 2013Feb 2011

Resettlementof 180 HH

Longitudinal Survey 2011-2013

Upstream HH survey in 4

villages > 2 Year After Resettlement

December 2013

Page 6: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR
Page 7: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

% Households Considering Nam Gnouang River/Reservoir as “Important” or “Very Important”

ForBefore

Resettlement

After Resettlement

YEAR 1

After Resettlement

YEAR 2

Alternatives at Resettlement Site (provided by the power

company)

Drinking 44 - - Public and private wells

Bathing 74 - 11 Public and private wells

Washing 76 - 11 Public and private wells

Irrigation (e.g. river bank garden)

36 - 1 Homestead garden irrigated with water from wells

Fishing 98 99 75 Reservoir

Livestock watering 55 25 26 Reservoir, wells

Transportation 91 4 66 Road access

Transporting goods 16 - - Road access

Micro-hydropower 25 - - Public power grid

Village events and festivals (e.g. wedding)

68 - 61 Public and private wells

Rituals (e.g. funeral) 32 - 4 Public and private wells

Use of Nam Gnouang Reservoir is less diverse compared to the use of Nam Gnouang River before resettlement

Page 8: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Water supply significantly improved

River54%

Spring44%

Tap 2%

Dry Season

River36%

Spring50%

Rain and river5%

Rain and spring7%

Tap2%

Rain Season

Before Resettlement

After Resettlement

Before re-settlement

After 1 Year

After 2 Year

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Water Consumption per Household

Dry season

Rainy season

Wat

er co

nsum

ption

(l/d

ay/H

H)

Page 9: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Significant reduction and shift in income portfolio

Before After 1 Year After 2 Year -

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

Change of Household Income

Remittances

Livestock

Non/Off-farm

TFP/NTFP

Fisheries

Agriculture

Inco

me

(MKi

p/ye

ar/H

H)

Compensation from company- Food-Agriculture inputs- Cash

Compen-sation from company

Year 1

Average household income fell by approximately 72%, primarily due to the significant reduction in agriculture-related income, not yet fully re-established

Fisheries became the biggest contributor to household income, due to reduction in income from agriculture

Year 2

Overall income recovered– reaching 50% of the income before resettlement.

Agriculture income is the most important

Income from fisheries fell compare to Year 1, and less households were engaged in fishing

Non-farm wages, remittances and trading large livestock generated higher share of income

Before re-settlement

After 1 Year After 2 Year0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

River / Reservoir-based household income

Non Farm

Irrigated Agricul-ture

Forestry

Fisheries

Inco

me

(M. K

ip/H

H/ye

ar)

Page 10: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Fisheries important during transition, but declining • Year 1 - 71% of resettled households

reported increase in fishing activities, while 11% reported reduction in fishing activity after resettlement

• Fish catch is distributed more evenly throughout the year, no seasonal peaks

• Average household fish catch decreased significantly between Year 1 and Year 2

• Some households have quit fishing:

- 100% of households engaged in fishing before resettlement

- 95% in Year 1 after resettlement

- only 75% in Year 2

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec0

50

100

150

200

250

Average monthly fish catchper household

Before After 1 Year After 2 Year

Kg

Page 11: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Households strategies for adaptation• Location and distance are important factors

determining household strategy• After 1 year, some households negotiated

house swaps to stay closer to original upland rice fields

• Households located closer to the reservoir invested more in fishing while households farther away stopped fishing and focused on NTFP and agriculture

• Large livestock decreased by 50% due to lack of grazing land near the resettlement site but households whose original grazing land is closer were able to keep more animals

• With better road access, more households are involved in non-farm wage labor and trading

Before After Before After Before After0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Change in River Related Income Portfolio -

Before & 1 year After Resettlement

Non Farm

Irrigated Agricul-ture

Forestry

Fisheries

Mill

ion

Kip/

HH/y

ear

CLOSE

MEDIUM

FAR

Page 12: Hydropower development and local livelihood adaptation: a longitudinal case study in Lao PDR

Conclusions• Domestic water access has dramatically

improved and made more time available for income generation through other activities

• During the transition period, resettled households rely more on natural resources - important to ensure their access to fisheries resources and forests

• Reservoir fisheries need to be sustained as it has become the most important local use of the reservoir and the main source of income for some households

• Need to consider the differences within the resettlement village in terms of access to reservoir, forest and grazing land while designing resettlement villages