Author: Sheila Ngozi Oparaocha
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no. HS-97-16
Year: 1998
Academic Program: Human Settlement (HS)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 1997
Examination Committee: Govind Kelkar (Chairperson); Reidar Dale, David C. Little (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: The Hmong, the third largest ethnic group in Lao PDR, constitute fifteen percent of the current population and subsist on an upland farming system that is economically dependent on the production and sale of opium poppy. Little information is available on existing forms of farm management of the Hmong in Laos. With increased national and international pressure for the elimination of opium poppy cultivation, there is a growing need for information on substitute income raising activities, amongst which livestock production offers the best long-term alternative. The research studied the characteristics of the livestock management system of the Hmong in Nong Het District, Xieng Khouang Province. It concentrated on the gender role and relations within the system using this as a tool to delineate the needs, constraints and opportunities of the farm household. Using a Gender Analytical Framework within a Farming Systems Research Approach, the research found that there is a gender and age division of labour within the livestock management system of the Hmong in Nong Het. In this system women are primarily responsible for the care of small stock (chicken and pigs) raised around the homestead, but also contribute substantially to the general maintenance of the larger animals (cattle, buffalo and horse) considered the responsibility of men. Children also provide an impo1tant labour supplement in the farming system with almost no external inputs. Resources and benefits in the livestock sector are unequally distributed with the ‘lion’s share’ being in the hands of men. Owing to an increased incidence of disease, declining feed resources and almost no institutional and technical support, the current livestock resources are rapidly diminishing. Consequently, immediate interventions are necessary to rectify the present trends and set the stage for a livestock rearing system that can sustain a more sedentary farming system in the future. For this, programs aimed at disease control, improved nutrition and the
Scholarship Donor(s): Norwegian Agency for Development; Netherlands Government
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. School of Environment, Resources and Development
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