Rubber Plantation, Long District, Luangnamtha Prov<strong>in</strong>ce
III - CONTEXT OF INVESTMENT The grant<strong>in</strong>g of concessions <strong>and</strong> leases <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Lao</strong> <strong>PDR</strong> has <strong>in</strong>creased at an alarm<strong>in</strong>g rate over <strong>the</strong> last decade. In some respects, <strong>in</strong>vestment has outpaced regulators’ capacity to track <strong>and</strong> monitor <strong>in</strong>dividual projects. Specific projects have come under a critical spotlight, for example <strong>the</strong> Tong Ly rubber project <strong>in</strong> Nambak District, Luangprabang Prov<strong>in</strong>ce (Vientiane Times, 2006a & 2006b; Fujita, 2007; Dwyer, 2007), Peter Chan’s coconut plantation <strong>in</strong> Pak Kad<strong>in</strong>g, Borikhamxay Prov<strong>in</strong>ce (Dwyer, 2011), <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> VRG rubber plantations <strong>in</strong> Bachieng, Champasack Prov<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>and</strong> <strong>Lao</strong> Ngam, Saravane Prov<strong>in</strong>ce (Vientiane Times, 2007a & 2007b; Obien, 2007; Baird, 2010). One of <strong>the</strong> most recent cases publicized is that of Olam/Outspan Bolovans Limited <strong>in</strong> Champasack Prov<strong>in</strong>ce, a S<strong>in</strong>gaporean Company with a number of larger coffee plantations said to have negatively impacted several villages (LIWG, 2012). These cases have provided important evidence <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>sights, show<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> concrete impacts of l<strong>and</strong> deals on specific geographical areas <strong>and</strong> populations, <strong>and</strong> highlight<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> complex relationships – <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> some cases conflicts of <strong>in</strong>terest – that exist between different stakeholders. None<strong>the</strong>less, systematic analysis on a national scale of <strong>the</strong> geographic characteristics of l<strong>and</strong>-<strong>in</strong>tensive <strong>in</strong>vestment has been much harder to come by than isolated case studies. This has been largely due to <strong>the</strong> lack of systematically collected data on <strong>in</strong>vestment projects; <strong>in</strong>dividual l<strong>and</strong> deals attracted attention <strong>in</strong> many cases only by chance after problems ga<strong>in</strong>ed significant publicity. This chapter br<strong>in</strong>gs additional variables <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> analysis presented <strong>in</strong> chapter 2. Chapter 3 exam<strong>in</strong>es <strong>the</strong> relationship between <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ventory data <strong>and</strong> five key measures of <strong>the</strong> “context” with<strong>in</strong> which <strong>in</strong>vestment takes place. These variables range from <strong>the</strong> geophysical (<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> case of <strong>the</strong> first variable, elevation) to <strong>the</strong> socioeconomic (poverty, literacy, <strong>and</strong> ethnicity); <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r three variables (accessibility, l<strong>and</strong> use class <strong>and</strong> forest category) are a complex mix of both biophysical <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong> regulatory factors. In exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> local context with<strong>in</strong> which <strong>in</strong>vestment takes place, chapter 3 seeks to provide additional <strong>in</strong>sights <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> patterns that emerged <strong>in</strong> chapter 2. By better characteriz<strong>in</strong>g where <strong>in</strong>vestment takes place, chapter 3 aims to support current debates about l<strong>and</strong>-<strong>in</strong>tensive <strong>in</strong>vestment with concrete statistics <strong>and</strong> spatial analysis regard<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> “host” villages (villages with l<strong>and</strong> on which <strong>in</strong>vestment projects are located) as well as <strong>the</strong> relationship between areas under <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>and</strong> key national resources such as <strong>in</strong>frastructure, cultivated l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> forests. Chapter 3 thus contributes to an exist<strong>in</strong>g set of efforts to move beyond isolated case studies <strong>and</strong> make sense of <strong>the</strong> wider context of l<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Lao</strong> <strong>PDR</strong>. In <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g analysis, <strong>the</strong> subset of <strong>the</strong> data conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g only spatially referenced l<strong>and</strong> deals was used, mean<strong>in</strong>g 1,258 <strong>in</strong>vestment projects with a total known area of 587,564 ha 29. This represents slightly under half of <strong>the</strong> entire area under <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ventory – a fact that has to be carefully considered when <strong>in</strong>terpret<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> results presented. 29 Out of <strong>the</strong> 1,258 <strong>in</strong>vestment projects, 843 are concessions <strong>and</strong> 415 are leases, with an area of 585,892 ha <strong>and</strong> 1,672 ha respectively. CONTEXT OF INVESTMENT 53