Socio-Economic Baseline Survey and Evaluation Methodology - TABI

NTFP Project1
“Supporting the sustainable use of Non-Timber Forest Products”
Consultants’ Report 2/96
Socio-Economic Baseline Survey and Evaluation
Methodology
R.J. Fisher
Rachel Dechaineux
Kheung Kham Keonuchan
September 1996
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY LAO PDR
1 P.O. Box 4340 IUCN, Lao PDR
Vientiane, Lao PDR Tel.: (++ 856. 21) 216 401
Tel. & Fax.: (++ 856. 21) 222 861 Fax.: (++ 856. 21) 216 127

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction 1
Combining Impact Assessment and Evaluation for Project Management 1
Key Themes for Socio-economc Impact Assessment 5
Context of Project Intervention 6
Principles 7
Elements of the Proposed Approach 7
Summary of Recommendations 12
References 13
Appendices
Appendix 1: The Consultancy 14
Appendix 2: Format for Village Profiles With Explanatory Notes 18
Appendix 3: A Sample Village Profile 22
Appendix 4: Land and Tree Tenure 31
Boxes
Box 1: Unintended Consequences 1
Box 2: Two Types of Evaluation 2
Box 3: Philippines-Palawan NTFP Project: A Case Study 4
Box 4: Suggestions for Continuing Observation 9
Box 5: Guidelines for Village Case Studies Methodology 11

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Introduction
The Annual Plan (1995/96) for the project provided objectives relating to the preparation of
a baseline survey:
“To obtain baseline information from those pilot sites where agreements have been
made and approved.
“To ensure that the methods, information, and solutions used by the Project take
account of equity and gender issues, to the fullest extent possible.”
In order to meet these objectives, the Annual Plan expressed the intention to “collate existing
material and undertake additional baseline surveys... for the purposes of future monitoring
and evaluation”. This includes undertaking surveys of biodiversity to assist in the assessment
of the biophysical impacts of the project in terms of ecological sustainability and separate
socio-economic baseline surveys to assist in the assessment of socio-economic impacts. This
report deals with the development of a methodology for evaluating socio-economic impacts. 2
The purposes of this report are to
• outline the rationale adopted for socio-economic evaluation
• outline the recommended approach and
• provide some tools which will assist project field staff in implementation.
Combining Impact Assessment and Evaluation for Project Management
The typical approach to baseline survey is to obtain a set of information on socio-economic
conditions at the commencement of a project and then to measure the same indicators at the
end of the project (or at some specified stage) in order to identify changes including those
arising from the project’s activities. Typically the survey depends on relatively structured
questions and quantitative data. This is essentially a summative approach - one which is
concerned with assessing the final effects of a project. This is useful for donors who wish to
see whether their investment has been worthwhile, and it is also useful as a way of
generating lessons for new projects if cause and effect can be shown between project
intervention and change. However, there are limitations with measuring indicators at the
beginning and at the end of a period in order to identify changes. These include:
2 This is one of two reports required in the TOR (see Appendix 1, Tasks and Outputs, points 1.2 and 2.3). The
second paper ("a review of the literature on customary and official tree and forest tenure and usufruct in Lao
PDR") is under preparation.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• Detailed identification of data sets in advance of project activities assumes that all key
issues are anticipated and makes it difficult to account for the unintended consequences of
project activities. [See Box 1]
• End of project surveys do not assist with the early recognition of problems, yet early
recognition would enable a project to vary its approach during implementation in order to
maximise benefits and minimise unintended and negative results.
• Comparison of before and after conditions does not guarantee the identification of causal
linkages between project activities and changes.
BOX 1:
Unintended Consequences
By definition, it is impossible to identify unintended consequences in advance. Nevertheless,
it is very common for development activities to lead to effects which were not foreseen. It is
possible to give examples. Unintended consequences frequently involve worsening of
conditions for a particular group despite a general improvement.
Example 1
Jobs provided by copper mining and a large copper smelter in India significantly improved
the economic status of many tribal people in the area. Nevertheless two groups suffered from
the industry.
• Fishermen living downstream from the smelter suffered noticeably decreased yields as a
result of damage to fish stocks due to pollution (either from the smelter itself, or from
sewerage from the town that grew up around it, or both). This was hardly surprising, but
was certainly not intended.
• The general improvement of the local economy led to higher prices for many necessities.
Those tribal people who were not employed in the copper industry were actually worse
off than before, because the buying power of their limited income declined. This led to
women in some families taking up collection of firewood for sale, involving increased
workloads for only a small increase in income.
Example 2
The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Northern Pakistan has been very successful in
improving productivity from livestock and agriculture. An unintended consequence of this is
that women had increased workloads, because the particular activities affected tended to be
associated with their traditional roles. (Interestingly, many women regarded this increase as
an acceptable cost of the overall improvement to the well-being of their families.)
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
An alternative to summative evaluation is formative evaluation, which is concerned with
identifying issues as they emerge and taking corrective or compensatory action. [See Box 2]
Baseline survey information is most useful when it contributes to long term assessment of
project impacts, while, at the same time, providing feedback which enables project
management to amend project activities in order to build on project successes and avoid or
compensate for negative outcomes.
BOX 2
Two Types of Evaluation
Summative evaluation: [final evaluation]
• takes place at the end of a project and sometimes at project mid-term
• aims to determine project success or failure (did the project “pass the test”?)
• was expenditure on the project justified by the results?
• are there any lessons which could be applied to future projects?
Formative evaluation: [continuing evaluation]
• continues throughout a project
• aims to identify issues and problems
• enables corrective action to be implemented quickly if problems (or unintended
consequences) are identified
• enables the project to identify successes which it can build upon
It is difficult to give examples of the role of formative evaluation based on the NTFP Project
in Laos because the project has only just started and has not yet proceeded beyond the stage
of information-gathering. However, NTFP projects have been working in other countries and
there are lessons which can be learned from these. One example is the NTFP project in
Palawan Province in the Philippines. Box 3 describes a situation in which the project
identified problems which were affecting NTFP activities in a pilot project area. The case
study shows how recognition of an emerging problem helped the project to take remedial
action to avoid a worsening situation. Although the policy changes which led to the stress on
the tribal Batak people were not a result of project activities, the case does demonstrate the
value of continual monitoring of socio-economic conditions and processes.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
BOX 3
Philippines-Palawan NTFP Project: A Case Study
The NTFP project in Palawan (an IUCN project which began in 1994) has two core sites:
• near Calabayog where there is a large settlement of Batak (a tribe traditionally involved in huntinggathering).
This settlement is relatively isolated and the Batak are culturally and socially peripheral to the
mainstream society and economy. They are usually illiterate and suffer from numerical illiteracy, which
makes them particularly susceptible to exploitation by traders.
• near Manggapin where there is a settlement which consists predominantly of Tagbanua (a group of tribal
people who are relatively acculturated, intermarried and often converted to Christianity) mixed with a few
Batak people and some lowland Filipinos (non-tribal people).
In late 1993, the City Mayor imposed ban on kaingin (shifting cultivation) for the city limits of Puerto Princesa
City, which extends through much of the province and covers both project sites. Shifting cultivation was
practiced widely in Palawan by both tribal people (mainly for upland rice, but also for a few tubers and
vegetables) and “lowlanders”(of whom most were immigrants to Palawan). The ban was strictly enforced and
those who tried to practice shifting cultivation were thrown into jail.
By September-October 1994, the effects of the kaingin ban were noticeable in the project pilot sites. The Batak
site, in particular, was suffering greatly: malnutrition increased, deaths from TB and malaria increased --
people no longer had sufficient means to obtain medicines. Over-harvesting of NTFPs -- through increased
bamboo, rattan and honey collection and almaciga (a high grade resin) tapping -- was occurring. The crisis led
the Batak to become even more dependent on the traders and they went further into debt to them in order to
purchase rice. The increased income from NTFPs was largely used to service this debt, so the increased
harvesting did not lead to increased benefits. The Tagbanua site was less affected by the ban, as they had paddy
plots which were producing good yields and large vegetable plots.
The problem of indebtedness by the Batak was severe and difficult to address directly (as the traders are “part
of the system”, they cannot be eliminated). In late 1994, when it became evident that the Batak site was in a
near crisis state, discussions with the community on their development needs were intensified. The discussions
led to the identification of a few activities to address the acute needs brought on by the ban:
• a controlled burning program for a hybrid system of settled agriculture with some burning (no new land
was used for the plots) for upland rice;
• equipment and technical assistance were brought in for paddy plot establishment;
• a study was undertaken by two Filipino scientists on the issue of over-harvesting of NTFPs (particularly the
resin tapping);
• a grant was requested for funds from the New Zealand Embassy to cover the costs of medical assistance,
including acute care for malaria and TB, distribution of medication and a rotating vaccination program;
• an anthropologist (with many years experience of Batak culture) was brought in to analyse the situation the
Batak were facing;
• The project has provided basic training in numeracy.
Contributed by Jill Blockhus, IUCN Forest Conservation Programme, Gland, Switzerland
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
In consultation with the Project Management Team, we have shifted the emphasis in this
report from developing a baseline study methodology to developing a broader approach to
socio-economic evaluation because we believe that summative evaluation is relatively
unhelpful unless it is combined with continuing formative evaluation. We propose a
combination of summative and formative evaluation. The underlying philosophy is
compatible with the participatory learning and action approach adopted by the project, in
which activities are constantly amended as a result of critical reflection on observed
outcomes (Ingles 1996).
Key Themes for Socio-Economic Impact Assessment
The idea of a baseline survey is to provide information now which will be useful later in
assessing the effects of a project. The first question is not what we need to know now
(project appraisal and RRA/PRA are concerned with that question), but what we would need
to know later in order to assess the impacts of what we have been doing. It is impossible to
predict all the possible outcomes of a project, but we can think of some broad areas that will
reflect on the extent to which we have achieved our broad purpose. The goal of the project
“...is to conserve forest biodiversity by promoting sustainable economic exploitation
of NTFPs at the community and provincial levels.”
Within the context of biodiversity conservation and “sustainability”, the underlying concern,
from the socio-economic point of view, is that “sustainable economic exploitation” improves
or maintains the material well-being and economic security of rural people in the long term .
It is, therefore, reasonable to examine the effects the project has and will have on
• well-being
• equity
• risk.
Well-being has two aspects. On one hand it refers to the quality of life, including such things
as health, education and access to services. On the other hand it refers to those economic
factors which provide access to material goods -- assets, capital, labour availability, credit
and availability of cash. Access to goods may be through barter or other forms of exchange.
It does not necessarily require use of cash.
Equity refers to the extent to which “well-being” is distributed fairly to different individuals
and groups. It is important to stress here that equity involves fairness, not, necessarily
equality. Fairness must, to a large extent, be determined by the people whose lives are
affected. It is possible (indeed, very common) for a project to improve the quality of life for
some people, while others are disadvantaged. For example, village leaders may gain
financially, while poorer people do not, Sometimes there is an overall gain, but at the cost of
greatly increased labour for some people. It is common for projects to improve family
income, but at the cost of increased labour for women. This is a particularly common source
of gender inequity.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Risk is an important component of peasant life. People operating close to the minimum
subsistence level are greatly concerned with “subsistence risk”(Scott 1976). In such
circumstances, it is quite rational to avoid potentially profitable changes if these changes
involve risks of complete failure. (For example, a particular NTFP may offer considerable
returns, but, if future prices are uncertain, subsistence farmers would be unlikely to invest
labour and energy in production at the cost of their subsistence crop.) Not only is risk a
factor which is likely to affect the adoption of new activities, but promotion of income from
NTFPs which increases exposure of farmers to risk could be a potentially negative indicator
in a social impact assessment. (Again, whether risk is an acceptable cost of potential benefits
is a matter for the affected people to decide themselves.)
These three broad criteria can be combined. Assessment of risk needs to take account of the
possibility that different groups may be more affected by risk than others as a result of
project inspired change. It is important, therefore, to identify different interest groups or
stakeholders (i.e. those likely to be affected differently by particular changes).
Well-being, equity and risk are broad areas of concern. From the point of view of collecting
baseline data, it is much easier to think in advance of indicators of well-being than it is to
think of indicators of equity and risk. Consequently, we propose to include indicators of
well-being in the baseline data collection, but see the identification of changes to equity and
risk as being likely to emerge from evaluation activities.
One of the difficulties in constructing a baseline survey (either for summative or formative
evaluation) is achieving a balance between the need for a process which is flexible enough to
pick up unintended consequences and the need to identify, in advance, the broad type of
information which may be useful. The experience of many development projects suggests
that unintended consequences often fall into one of these three themes.
Context of Project Intervention
The evaluation of socio-economic data requires conceptual skills and experience in the
social sciences which have not been promoted in Laos. The field staff currently employed by
the NTFP project have skills and experience in areas such as forestry and agriculture, but
have limited skills in the social sciences. The methodology for socio-economic evaluation
must take account of these limitations.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Principles
The following key principles underlie the development of the baseline survey methodology
proposed in this report:
• The methodology should be useful both for summative and formative evaluation.
• The need to integrate the baseline survey as far as possible with continuing and routine
evaluation of project activities means that activities should be carried out as far as
possible by project field staff as part of their normal activities. (This does not preclude
use of specialists or outsiders for specific tasks.)
• The gathering of data for the baseline survey should use data already being collected
(through RRA and PRA), supplementing this where necessary. (Collection of additional
data should be limited to what is reasonably necessary.)
• Field staff should be involved as far as possible in identifying and developing indicators
of change which are relevant to project activities and about which information can be
collected practically in village conditions.
• While the broad dimensions (well-being, equity and risk) can be explored as part of the
processes of impact assessment and evaluation, assessment of the meaning or significance
of changes along these dimensions must be made by the villagers and the evaluation of
social impact must be participatory. For example, it is possible to identify inequitable
changes to women’s workload arising from collection of an NTFP (such as women
working two extra hours a day for six weeks during the harvesting period collecting a
product), but the women themselves need to decide whether this is acceptable, perhaps as
a trade-off for improved conditions.
Elements of the Proposed Approach
The proposed approach to social impact assessment involves four main types of activities:
• Collection of information for the Baseline Study by the Field Team
• Continuing Observation of Social Impact by Field Teams
• Village Case Studies
• External Review.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Collection of information for the Baseline Study by the Field Team.
We propose that a Village Profile be prepared for each selected pilot site once it has been
identified and an agreement has been made with villagers. This document could be
substantially completed from information collected during RRA and PRA as part of the
process of identifying suitable pilot villages and participatory planning for pilot projects. It
may also be necessary to collect some additional information in a separate visit. The Village
Profile should be completed by the Field Team. Appendix 2 is the pro forma for Village
Profiles which we are recommending for the documentation of baseline information.
Explanatory notes about the information required are included in the Appendix.
The Village Profile format follows a list of topic headings. It is not a questionnaire, but
rather a checklist of the minimum information needed. Teams should feel quite free to
include additional types of information and the format provides scope for inclusion of
opinions about issues (and potential emergent issues) as well as factual information. A
sample of a completed Village Profile is at Appendix 3
The Village Profile is a written document, not a computer data base. The document should
be kept on a file on which field reports on village visits should also be kept. Duplicates of all
Village Profiles and visit reports should be kept on files in the Field Office and in the
Vientiane office.
Continuing Observation of Social Impact by Field Teams
In addition to collecting information for the Village Profile, the Field Team members should
make observation of socio-economic changes and documentation of observations a routine
part of all field work. Through this process they will be contributing to a developing
understanding of emerging issues and will be preparing the ground for more formal case
studies. It would be advantageous if the project could provide training and ongoing support
to assist staff to develop their skills and conceptual understanding during this process. The
continuing observation process should be carried out using methods similar to those which
will be used in the case studies. Box 4 provides some advice to field staff about field
observations.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
BOX 4
Suggestions for Continuing Observation
• Information gathered through casual conversations (while walking through a village,
while preparing or sharing a meal etc.) is quite legitimate and often very useful. In fact,
casual conversations are often the best way to understand the concerns of villagers --
central to understanding project impacts.
• A limitation of RRA methodology is that it tends to depend on a few informants to
provide information and often these are village elite. It is essential to understand the
concerns of all interest groups, including both poorer and wealthier people (who may be
particularly involved with or dependent on NTFPs). Informal conversations are an ideal
way to communicate with these people. The wealth ranking activity is a useful way of
identifying the poor in the first place.
• Discussion of economic activities (including those associated with agriculture and
NTFPs) leads to the development of individual and family histories and case studies. It is
through this type of discussion that recognition of unintended consequences and the
relationship between project activities and changes can become evident.
• Important points from informal discussions should be documented and included on the
village file. This will be useful later for Village Case Studies and External Review.
Village Case Studies
While we have attempted to maximise the role of the Field Team in all aspects of impact
assessment, monitoring and evaluation, we recognise that the Field Teams do not have
training or expertise in sociological or anthropological research. Understanding the subtleties
of equity, risk, exchange relationships and their interactions requires a great deal of
specialist experience. We therefore propose that there is a role for a suitably trained and
experienced person outside the Field Teams to carry out village level case studies to explore
socio-economic changes in greater depth. Members of the Field Teams expressed, during
this study, the view that there is a need for someone outside the teams to evaluate activities.
This is specifically the summative aspect of social impact assessment.
These case studies could occur on an ad hoc basis where specific issues have been identified
for further exploration and they could also occur on a scheduled basis. It would be
particularly useful for case studies to be carried out prior to formal external evaluations
(mid-term or otherwise).
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend a minimum of six Village Case Studies during the life of the project.
This would involve three (one from each project province) leading up to the midterm
review and another three (one from each province) leading up to the end of
project review. This is the essential minimum to achieve effective summative
evaluation. It would be desirable to do at least six Village Case Studies per year for
the remaining life of the project (i.e. after pilot sites are selected). At this level of
activity the case studies would be of greater use for formative evaluation.
In addition to the summative role of Village Case Studies, there is also a formative aspect.
The case studies should be carried out in close consultation with the Field Team and should
contribute to the development of staff skills and conceptual abilities.
RECOMMENDATION
We would recommend that the project consider employing a person (to be stationed
in the Vientiane office) to carry out these studies along with an ongoing mentoring
role, which would involve routine support for project staff in socio-economic
matters. We do not propose to make recommendations on the modality of
employment. This could involve full-time employment, regular part-time
employment or periodic consultancies. Project management will need to assess the
alternatives. We would, however, stress the need for continuity rather than use of a
number of separate individual consultants.
We do not wish to prescribe a detailed methodology for the Village Case Studies, because
we believe that the person who carries out the case studies ought to have substantial
experience in field research in rural areas and would therefore be able to produce their own
strategy appropriate to each situation. However, the methodology would be broadly based on
anthropological methods (essentially participant observation) and some general guidelines
are provided in Box 5.
RECOMMENDATION
The Village Case Studies should be carried out by a person with the following
qualifications and expertise:
• a degree in an appropriate social science (anthropology or rural sociology)
• field experience in S.E. Asia, preferably in Laos
• good knowledge of spoken Lao.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
BOX 5
Guidelines for Village Case Studies Methodology
Each case study should involve approximately one week of village field work. This should
be treated flexibly and fieldwork could be split over shorter visits.
The underlying approach will consist of participant observation and informal interviews.
Case studies should involve participation by
• villagers, whose assessment of the significance/acceptability of changes will be actively
sought;
• field staff. The research process and results should be actively discussed by the evaluator
with field team members, both to incorporate their knowledge and insights in the case
study and to enable them to develop their skills. (However, the evaluation is to be the
responsibility of the evaluator and field team members will not be members of the case
study team. The case studies are external” evaluations.)
The general focus of attention in the case studies will be changes to well-being, equity and
exposure to risk.
The case studies will pay particular attention to
• exploring the differing impacts of project activities on all stakeholder groups;
• changes in gender roles and workloads;
• changes in tenure and exchange relations especially between traders (within village and
external) and collectors.
The case study report will make recommendations to the project on changes to activities as a
response to undesirable project impacts.
External Review
Under the Project Document and IUCN practices, the project will undergo an annual
evaluation by IUCN and formal mid-term and end of project reviews. The proposed process
would provide all baseline data (Village Profiles and field reports) to the various review
teams and would also provide Village Case Studies as detailed analyses of socio-economic
impacts.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Summary of Recommendations
(1) We recommend the establishment of a baseline survey and evaluation system with the
following elements:
• Collection of information for the Baseline Study by the Field Team.
• Continuing Observation of Social Impact by Field Teams
• Village Case Studies
• External Review.
(2) We recommend a minimum of six Village Case Studies during the life of the project.
This would involve three (one from each project province) leading up to the midterm
review and another three (one from each province) leading up to the end of
project review. This is the essential minimum to achieve effective summative
evaluation. It would be desirable to do at least six Village Case Studies per year for
the remaining life of the project (i.e. after pilot sites are selected). At this level of
activity the case studies would be of greater use for formative evaluation.
(3) We would recommend that the project consider employing a person (to be stationed
in the Vientiane office) to carry out these studies along with an ongoing mentoring
role, which would involve routine support for project staff in socio-economic
matters. We do not propose to make recommendations on the modality of
employment. This could involve full-time employment, regular part-time
employment or periodic consultancies. Project management will need to assess the
alternatives. We would, however, stress the need for continuity rather than use of a
number of separate individual consultants.
(4) The Village Case Studies should be carried out by a person with the following
qualifications and expertise:
• a degree in an appropriate social science (anthropology or rural sociology)
• field experience in S.E. Asia, preferably in Laos
• good knowledge of spoken Lao.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
References
Bruce, J.W. (1989)
Village Forestry: Rapid Appraisal of Tree and Land Tenure. Village Forestry Note 5. Rome:
FAO.
Ingles, A.W. (1996)
The Role of Participatory Learning and Action Approaches in Integrated Conservation and
Development Projects. Project Methodology Paper No 1. NTFP Project: Department of
Forestry, Lao PDR and IUCN The World Conservation Union.
Scott, James (1976)
The Moral Economy of the Peasant. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Appendix 1: The Consultancy
CONSULTANT TEAM
The consultancy was carried out in July 1996 by a team consisting of:
Dr R. Fisher
School of Agriculture and Rural Development
University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury
Burke Street, Richmond, NSW 2753
Australia
Ms Rachel Dechaineux
Research Assistant/Translator (Rural Development Specialist)
P.O. Box 5512
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Kheung Kham Keonuchan, PhD student
School of Agriculture and Rural Development
University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury
Bourke Street, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia
Dr Fisher is engaged in a research project on social, economic and environmental research
funded by the Australian Research Council. His role in the consultancy took the form of a
collaborative research activity involving the NTFP Project and the research project and
contributing to the goals of each.
Itinerary:
1-6 July Vientiane. Preliminary discussions/planning
7 July Travel to Pakse.
8 -9 July Consultations with Field Team. Village fieldwork (overnight in village).
10 July Conclusion. Travel to Salavan. Consultations with Field Team
11-12 July Village fieldwork (overnight in village). Conclusions
13 July Travel Pakse-Vientiane.
16 July Travel to Oudomxai. Consultations with Field Team.
17-18 July Village fieldwork (overnight in village). Conclusions.
19 July Travel Oudomxai-Vientiane
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
List of People Consulted:
NTFP Project Head Office Staff
NTFP Field Team, Salavan
NTFP Field Team, Champasak
NTFP Field Team, Oudomxai
Mr Chantaviphone Inthavong
Director, National Office for Nature Conservation and Watershed Management
Forestry Department, Lao PDR
Dr Jim Chamberlain
Consultant Anthropologist
Mr Stuart Chape
IUCN Representative, Lao PDR
Dr Clive Marsh
IUCN
Mr Gary Oughton
Agronomist/consultant
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
TERMS OF REFERENCE (Extract)
Objectives of the Consultancy
The objectives of this consultancy are to:
1. Provide background information and commentary on the nature of customary and
official tree and forest tenure and usufruct. In this case, forests are taken to include
areas of fallow swidden and trees include those growing on both private and common
lands. This will include an identification of the key tenure and usufruct issues that
should be considered by the Project in monitoring and evaluation.
2. Advise the Project on the information that is essential and desirable for assessing any
changes to the wealth, security and equity (including gender equity) of the Project’s
target groups resulting from Project interventions.
3. Provide advice, guidelines and recommendations for undertaking socio-economic
baseline surveys at the Project’s pilot sites to provide the information identified in
objective two above and to support Project management generally.
Tasks and Outputs
In order to achieve these objectives, it is envisaged that the consultant will:
• Study Project documents and discuss the Project’s strategy, objectives and activities with
Project staff.
• Obtain information and become familiar with the types of social and physical
environments in which the Project is working. This will include at least one visit to a
Project field site.
• Consult and discuss issues related to this consultancy with Project staff, DoF officials and
other organisations and people as appropriate.
In particular, in order to achieve objective 1, it is envisaged that the consultant will:
1.1 Undertake a review of the literature on customary and official tree and forest tenure
and usufruct in Lao PDR.
1.2 Prepare a paper which presents the outcome of this review and identifies the key
tenure and usufruct issues that should be considered by the Project in monitoring and
evaluation. The paper should be in a form suitable for publication as a Project
Technical Report.
In addition, in order to achieve objective 2, it is envisaged that the consultant will:
2.1 Undertake consultations with local people at Project sites, Project staff and others as
appropriate and collect relevant information, opinion and literature to support the
preparation of the advice required, in a participatory and systematic way.
2.2 Undertake a workshop with key Project staff to present information and provisional
advice, obtain feedback and further engage the Project staff in the development of a
baseline survey methodology.
2.3 Incorporate the findings and advice required for this objective into the written report
described in 3.2 below.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
In addition, in order to achieve objective 3, it is envisaged that the consultant will:
3.1 Develop a baseline survey methodology, taking account of the Project’s context and
findings of tasks described above.
3.2 Prepare a draft report in English, which describes the proposed baseline survey
methodology including:
• information sets to be collected;
• the approach, activities, tools and methods involved;
• the rationale for the methodology as a whole and for each information set, including
assumptions made; and
• recommendations for implementing baseline surveys, including personnel, timing
and resources required.
3.3 Prepare and submit a final plan and any accompanying documents which takes
account of the feedback from the Project.
Timetable
The consultant will commence work no later than 8 July 1996 and provide complete drafts of
the paper and draft report required by this TOR to the Project Advisor by 5 August 1996.
Final versions of the paper and report will be provided to the Project no later than 21 days
after the Project has provided comments and feedback on each.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Appendix 2: Format for Village Profiles with Explanatory Notes
• A Village Profile should be prepared for each selected pilot site once it has been
identified and an agreement has been made with villagers. This document could be
substantially completed from information collected during RRA and PRA as part of the
process of identifying suitable pilot villages and participatory planning for pilot projects.
It may also be necessary to collect some additional information in a separate visit. The
Village Profile should be completed by the Field Team.
• The Village Profile format follows a list of topic headings. It is not a questionnaire, but
rather a checklist of the minimum information needed. Teams should add any additional
information they feel is relevant. They should include opinions about issues (and potential
emergent issues) as well as factual information.
• The contents of the Village Profile, especially comments about emergent issues, should
be discussed by Field Team during preparation.
• The Village Profile is a written document, not a computer data base. The document
should be kept on a file on which field reports on village visits should also be kept.
Duplicates of all Village Profiles and visit reports should be kept on files in the Field
Office and in the Vientiane office.
VILLAGE PROFILE
Authors and Date of Completion of Village Profile
Village Name and Location
Photographs, sketches or diagrams are also useful for later evaluation of changes.
General Description
Dates and reasons for establishment of the present village; access, political boundaries,
distances to towns/villages; landforms and elevation; village maps (including field team’s
sketch map and participatory mapping); land use maps.
Infrastructure and development projects
Existing infrastructure and services (roads, lavatories, irrigation) villagers’ expressed needs.
Other development projects or assistance; implementing agencies
18

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Demography
Population; number of households; names of resident ethnic groups; languages spoken;
breakdown of population by gender/age. Any indications of the population trends and
significant in or out migration.
Health
Hygiene, sanitation practices, status of nutrition, common illnesses (e.g. malaria). Access to
health services.
Education
Access to education, distance to schools, grades available, numbers of students
(female/male), number of teachers. Any other informal education activities.
Village Organisation
Village organisation and leadership (including elected/appointed officials and other
influential people). The process of decision making for village rules regulations and
activities.
Economic Activities
• Livestock
Types and numbers of village livestock, comments on management, marketing and
consumption.
• Agriculture
Types of crops, types and areas of land under cultivation, crop deficit or surpluses for sale.
• Wage labour
Inside village, outside village.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• NTFPs
Types of NTFPs, priority ranking for various stakeholders, including gender differences; use
of NTFPs for subsistence or sale; proximity to forest; commercial or domestic collection.
Labour
Availability of labour, major labour requirements. division of labour (note gender
differences especially), seasonal calendar; labour exchange relationships. (Do some people
repay loans by performing labour?)
Division of labour: Understanding the division of labour, particularly as applied to various
aspects of NTFPs (collection, processing and delivery to market), is a key to identifying
equity impacts, especially in terms of gender.
Wealth Ranking
Record results of wealth ranking exercises, including criteria used. Record results of
separate wealth ranking exercises by women and men. Note who participated in ranking
(village leaders, wealthier people, poor people).
Marketing Systems, Traders and Exchange Relationships
Who are the traders who obtain various NTFPs from village collectors? Are they insiders or
outsiders? Do they advance payment? Do they give loans?
Marketing and Exchange Systems It is important to identify who traders are, where they
come from, how they pay for the product and what other relationships they have with the
collectors (patron-client ties, loan relationships etc.). Understanding the processes and steps
involved in marketing is crucial in order to identify future positive or negative changes to the
conditions under which collectors operate. Prices are a part of this analysis, but it is the steps
and conditions of exchange that are most important.
The process of marketing NTFPs may involve quite different types of exchange
relationships. Sometimes the process is a relatively simple one involving cash payments
from traders in exchange for products. Sometimes the traders may also provide loans to
farmers and this may lead to farmers becoming trapped into the forced sale of products at
poor prices. The case of the Palawan project (Box 3) is an excellent example of NTFP
collectors falling into debt and being unable to benefit from increased collection of NTFPs.
Land, Tree and Forest Tenure
20

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
What arrangements exist to regulate access to agricultural land (paddy and swidden), and
various forest products?
Tree and forest tenure are crucial from the point of view of social impact assessment,
because access to trees and forests underpin the livelihoods of rural people. Changes in
access to resources may result from project actions and reduced access would be an
important issue of concern in assessing impacts.
It is frequently assumed that farmers, especially those involved in shifting cultivation, have
no arrangements to regulate access to and/or use of trees and forests. Experience from other
countries and material gathered during the field trips undertaken for this study make it clear
that local (village-level) arrangements governing access to and distribution of tree and forest
resources do, indeed, exist. It needs to be stressed that arrangements may vary greatly, even
between adjacent villages. It also needs to be remembered that a single village may have
quite different arrangements for different NTFPs. For example, individual bamboo clumps in
“common” forest may be the individual property of the people who planted them, while
cardamom in the same forest may common property.
Appendix 4 provides notes on tree and forest tenure and includes advice on the collection of
tenure information.
Reasons for Selecting the village
An explicit statement of reasons for selecting village as pilot village.
Target Groups
Specify particular target groups for people to be involved in project activities.
Threats to Socio-Economic Success
Are there any potential factors identified in field visits which are likely to lead to undesirable
impacts on villagers or sub-groups of villagers in terms of well-being, equity and exposure
to risk?
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
[Prepared by Rachel Dechaineux]
Appendix 3: A Sample Village Profile
Note: Some Tables have not been completed in this sample Village Profile. These tables
should be completed in the standard format for data collected through PRA.
VILLAGE PROFILE
Authors: Ms. Nok Luang and Mr. Lam Pai ( in collaboration with Sing Thong Field
Team).
Date of Completion: 31 July 1996
Village Name and Location
Paa Dip Village is located in the deepest valley, approximately 600m above sea level, in the
north of Sing Thong Province, 65km northeast of Ling Lom District, Lingus country.
Mountain peaks to the east (1200m ) demarcate the border of Ling Lom District and Ton
Khiaw Province. To the west a mountain terrain separates the village and its district town,
about 18-20 hours overnight by foot for the villagers.
General Description
The village was established in 1969 when the whole village apparently migrated from the
eastern mountains of Ton Khiaw Province. A village elder gave an account of rising disputes
over land for shifting cultivation due to migrations of other peoples to that area, encroaching
upon fallow lands and clearing of primary forest areas. It appears that the people of Paa Dip
chose to move to its present area on approval from the Ling Lom district authorities. Other
villages in closest proximity were consulted with at the time to demarcate land use borders.
Since the villagers migrated they have become primarily wet-rice agriculturists with an
expanse of fertile soils for cultivation, (however susceptible to floods).
The village can be accessed by car (only during 7 months of the dry season) or by small boat
throughout the year. The road begins 1km out of the village, south 22km meeting the Lom-
Pe highway, then 16km north-west to Ling Lom district town centre. From the junction
south 72km to Nam Pe District town.
Huay Dip River entwines the valley, passes the village and allows for river transport via the
neighbouring village, Huay Dip( proximity of 4km), then continues 65km south to the mouth
of the tributary at Nam Pe District town. Here the river flows into the Se Nam Pe tributary to
the Nam Pe River. There are approximately 5 villages until reaching Nam Pe district town
the largest in Sing Thong Province.
Attachment: Area map reproduced by the field teams from the villagers’ interpretation.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
The layout of the village centres around the central communal house. This is a well
structured large building built of strong timbers and decorated with birds nests and wild
pig’s tusks, symbolic to the villagers relationship with the forest. The communal house is
used for all village meetings and accommodating guests. From this point there are four paths
leading out of the village in the direction of cardinal points, passing the villagers houses
which are smaller versions of the communal house. The path east leads approximately 50
metres to the edge of the forest; the western path meets the beginning of the road at about
200 metres and the two paths north and south go to the fields and the river.
Infrastructure and development projects
The access road was built with district funding and labour from Paa Dip and Huay Dip
villages. Condition of the road is poor and there is talk amongst the Paa Dip village
committee to propose to the district for an upgrading project. It may be an advantage that the
son of the village chief works in the District Sector for Communications and Transport.
Other paths, walkways and small bridge crossings have all been designed and built by the
villagers themselves with collective input of labour and skills. Recently the village has built
a jetty landing on the river from bamboo and twine. All materials used in construction are
from the forest with no sign of any plastics, tin, metal or steel.
Water supply to the village is very substantial coming from the continuous flow of streams
of the mountain source. The non-government organisation Aid4U funded and provided
technical assistance installing six washing areas with water outlets/taps inside the village.
All labour and most materials such as bamboo for pipes was supplied by the villagers. Only
cement, taps, and 60 plastic buckets were donated by the project (a Sanitation and Hygiene
Awareness Program implemented in 6 villages in the district). There are plans for more than
25 lavatories to be installed by the same donor before December 1996.
The mountain streams provide natural irrigation to the paddy fields yet the streams cannot
maintain a natural run-off system during heavy rains and has caused floods destroying
approximately 85% of the villages wet-rice fields in the past two consecutive years.
Villagers expressed the need for assistance to implement a water diversion system and to
adopt activities reducing the soil erosion.
Demography
The people call themselves the Muu-dii-yin people, which is one of 7 ethnic groups in the
district. They speak a common dialect of forest dwellers found throughout the region. The
villagers who have (had) the opportunity to attend school; or who have spent some time out
of the village can speak the national language, Lingo. A village estimate of 65% of women
cannot speak Lingo.
The village population is 198 people, 109 are female. A total of 57 children under the age of
15 of which 32 are girls. The total of 36 families in 22 households. There are 9 households
run by women without husbands, (four of which have older sons left the village to find work
to support the family) the remaining households are represented by men aged between
approximately 35 to 50 years.
23

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
It is evident that there are more women that men in the village. In casual conversation three
elder women indicated that mortality rates at birth for boys is quite high (e.g. one women
lost 2 boys at birth, and one under six months old out of 4 boys born), and a village
approximate of 45% survival rate of children under six months. The past two generations of
men have been leaving the village to become soldiers and more recently to become labourers
in Nam Pe town.
Health
General health problems that women find common are fevers (including malaria) with
chronic diarrhea amongst their children during the wet season. There have been several cases
of malaria this year, already one male-child has died and four children aged between 4-11
have suffered from the symptoms. During conversations the villagers showed little
knowledge of the names of various illnesses, they could only describe the general symptoms.
There has been a series of workshops organised by Aid4U organisation on nutrition, health
and hygiene. The program has introduced clean cooking, the basic five food groups needed
to maintain good health and prevent sickness and small home garden plots.
The nutrition levels in this village can depend on the beliefs and taboos of consuming certain
foods. A belief amongst the people is to not feed the children anything that comes from the
forest until they are over 3 years old. This includes wild fruits and berries and in particular,
pork which is not prepared for the children as the pigs forage in the forest and the children
will be susceptible to be lost or taken away by forest spirits or animals that are symbolically
attached to the product. Symptoms observed in children were jaundice and swollen
stomachs, which may be the result of parasites, lack of protein or vitamins and minerals
found in other forest foods.
There is little understanding of the traditional healers and their methods of practice in the
village. Indications are that these specialists are amongst the women’s group of about 4-5
people. These women practice healing rituals within small huts designated for the sick. They
use herbs and certain forest products to cure the patient and appease the forest spirits.
Formal medical services are easily available to the villagers. A district doctor makes
sporadic visits to the village every 2-3 months. Vaccination is available for children under 2
years if affordable. Purchase of medicines is rarely affordable. On occasions a family
member traveling to Ling Lom District, or to Se Nam town may bring a small supply back to
the village for personal use (not for sale).
The closest hospital is at Se Nam District and, as is known, only one women
(hemorrhaging) has received treatment at this hospital and she died. This event has incurred
a belief in other villagers that the hospital is a place to go to die.
Education
The closest primary school is at Huay Dip village, 4km down river or 6.5km along the road.
This school has 1-6 grades with 3 teachers, 2 females from that village and 1 male from Ling
Lom District. A total of 92 students attend the school, 63 children from Huay Dip (of the
24

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
total population 240); and 29 from Paa Dip village of which are 11 girls, 6 girls and 8 boys
below grade 3, and 2 girls and 5 boys in their final year.
The Lower Secondary school is in Ling Lom district where one girl and 5 boys attend from
Paa Dip village. They board at the school and return home once or twice a month. The
number of girls is considerably low as it is more preferable for boys to gain an education and
that it is seen to be too far for the girls to be away from home.
There is one 18 year old, sons of Mr. Phet, who is attending teacher training school in Sing
Thong Provincial town. This is funded by the provincial teachers scholarship program. Three
boys have joined the soldiers training school in Se Nam District, one of which has recently
married within the village and will be returning to reside in the village. He will take a role in
upholding village security.
Village Organisation
The village committee comprises of five men, a village chief; two deputy chiefs; a finance
accountant; and leader of the National Development party, who appears to coordinate all
official correspondence between the district and the villagers. The village committee appears
to have good relations amongst their people. Regular gatherings are held weekly and on all
culturally significant days and when any particular event or occurrence arises in the village.
The villagers are encouraged and motivated to speak out , ask questions and raise matters
needed to be addressed by all members of the community under the guidance of their
leaders. It is understood that those who hold positions in the village committee are well
respected for their good communication skills, education and ability to build rapport with all.
The village committee recognises the women’s group having a separate organisation
attending and participating in all regular meetings. There are six women’s union members
and the director is the village chief’s wife. She is very competent, talkative, and seems to
play an important role in assisting her husband with hosting guests and giving opinions
about issues regarding the villagers' welfare during village committee meetings.
The representative for the National Development Party is a village elder, Mr. Phet, a very
dynamic character who leads the discussions at village meetings, reiterates the topic and
opinions to the group and appears to be and advisor, able to manipulate the final decisions
made by the village chief. Mr Phet can speak reasonable English having worked alongside
American fighter pilots. He carries a transistor radio (10 band frequency) to be updated on
the world news which he frequently reiterates stories to joke and enlighten the group of their
advantageous living conditions close to nature. He is also the owner of the only rice mill
within the village.
The youth union comprises of 3 boys and 9 girls. The leader is the 19 year daughter of Mr.
Phet. The youth union roles involve 'watching out' for their younger peers in daily life
activities, coordinating singing and dancing concerts at the times of village festivals and
conveying information from the school to the villagers (there is no teacher/parent
communication).
Economic Activities
25

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• Livestock
The village statistics provided by the village committee revealed that there are 19 buffalo in
the village, 12 cows, 32 breeding pigs and an average of 8 poultry per household.
The buffalo are highly valued, used for agriculture work, and are rented out to villagers
inside and /or from Huay Dip village ( at 15000 kip per season of work). Buffalo are rarely
for sale unless the family has a rice deficit with more than one buffalo or a rice surplus and 2
or more buffalo. This would be discussed together husband and wife with the husband
making the transaction if with a man and the wife if a female buyer.
Usually the young boys and few girls look after the buffalo in daily life, tethering during no
work days, providing extra fodder in the evenings after bringing them back to the household
garden fence.
Cows were introduced to the village in 1993 when five females were bought from Ling Lom
District by a trader in exchange for trees existing on the private rice field of 2 families. This
was a private exchange and hasn't been repeated since. The present 12 cows are owned by 6
families, either breeding for sale or consumption at times of festival. The cows are tethered
similar to the buffalo in the garden areas and around the rice paddies during wet season, free
roaming after harvest and kept under the houses overnight. There has been accounts of eye
disease amongst the young calves over the past two years (reason unknown).
Poultry is mainly for household consumption. Ducks are more or less kept with in the fenced
gardens and chickens left to roam around the village where each household has built small
hatches for their nesting.
• Agriculture
Total area of wet-rice agriculture land is 19.6 ha. A good harvest produces approximately
980 kilos of rice. A surplus average of 80 kilos for those wealthy families and
approximately 2 month shortage for those poorer families.
Two consecutive years 1994-1995, Paa Dip village wet rice production has suffered from
floods. A total of 185 kilos of rice was harvested. Rice banks were set up by a the district
authorities with the assistance from Aid4U organisation. Both years the village received
12kg of rice for each household member/one month for 5 months of the year. The rice was
delivered from Nam Pe district town by boat. The natural disaster has made the villagers
more dependent on the forest resources to not only meet food requirements and basic needs,
also as a source of income to compensate for their loss of main subsistence benefits.
• Wage labour
Various types of wage labour are sought outside the village. Young men are recruited for
labouring in construction and road building within the district. They usually earn between
600-900kip/day. Three men aged 17-23 years, worked in Ton Khiaw Province with a
logging team, felling trees and sawing timber on designated government land.
26

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• NTFPs
Table A
General results of the opinion of ranking NTFPs and cash income sources by women and
men of the wealthier groups. It must be recognised that there are differences between the two
groups in their measurements.
NTFP Resources Women Men
Collected from the Forest Collect for
use
Income no. of
stones
Collect for
use
Income no. of
stones
Wild Vegetables ***** 3 5% *** -
Medicinal plants **** - - -
Insects ** - *** -
Cardomon - 7 15% * 9 18%
Small berries *** -
Wild fruits **** 4 7% **** -
Bamboo shoots **** 4 7% * -
Rattan * 2 3% ***** 5 9%
Honey ** 5 10% **** 2 5%
Fibres ** - **** 4 7%
Mushrooms ***** - *** -
Deer - - ***** 5 10%
Birds - - **** 4 5%
Wild pigs - - ****** 10 25%
Small monkeys - - ** 3 6%
Squirrels - - *** 2 5%
Lizards ** - *** -
The resources of highest value for the women is honey yet they collect more mushrooms and
wild vegetables. The women extract the honey and sell it at the market in the neighbouring
village. Medicinal plants can only be collected by women specialists, those who are
culturally recognised as healers within the community. Even so the women’s group indicated
that the women healer must be aged between 25-45 enabling her to collect these plants and
preserve their properties foe effective use.
For the men wild pigs and cardomon have a high value. The men hunt wild pigs regularly as
the meat is valued, used as offerings to the forest spirits for cultural festivals. This belief and
ritual practice assists in the conservation of the forests as the pigs are destructive to other
27

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
resources that the village collects such as wild vegetables. The meat is sold within the
village. A lot of rattan is collected for building materials and only just began to export it out
of the village.
Forest birds are caught by young school boys and taken to Huay Dip village to sell at the
small village market for 400-600kip per bird.
Products sent down to Se Nam District by boat usually rented boats within the village. The
trader comes to the village and travels with the produce.
Labour
Table B
Women’s Labour Schedule
Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Table C
Men’s Labour Schedule
Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Wealth Ranking
The wealth ranking exercise was only performed with one group during RRA on the second
visit to the village. For an understanding of wealth indicators across the village the exercise
will need to be done with at least two more groups of both genders.
The women’s group comprised of four representatives from the women’s union and one
daughter of the leader of the National Development Party, Mr. Phet. The exercise took place
on the verandah of the central communal house. The women showed a lot of interest in the
exercise and all contributed their opinions about the ranking of each household. There
appeared to be expressions of sympathy and pride for those households run by women.
Table D
Women’s Household Wealth Ranking & Criteria
Table E
Men’s Household Wealth Ranking & Criteria
28

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Marketing Systems, Traders and Exchange Relationships
There appears to be one outside trader who comes to the village regularly to visit Mr Phet
(an old friend). He orders rattan to be cut and sent by the village transport boat, usually Mr
Phet's son delivers this. This trader does not pay money in advance to Mr Pet but relies on
him to organise the order. Mr Phet speaks to those villagers who are capable of harvesting
the rattan and those interested all go together to the forest to collect the required amount.
While in the forest they discuss together which rattan is suitable for harvesting and they
perform the task together. Each person is paid a percentage of the sale leaving a remaining
10% for the village committee.
Land, Tree and Forest Tenure
The area demarcated for paddy rice was established on agreement with the district
authorities in 1969. It is difficult to piece together an accurate picture of how this land was
originally distributed amongst the villagers. Discussions primarily with the village
committee present land allocation process as an egalitarian system where each family was
given an equivalent of 1 to 1.5 ha. of land according to their subsistence requirements based
on the number of household members. The growing village population of new families
establishing themselves find a shortage of land for wet-rice agriculture and are either taking
up abandoned areas of fallow to begin their cycle of maintaining a subsistence or usually the
youngest daughter inherits the land from her mother.
As newcomers the village was able to take up rights of unclaimed areas of forests in close
proximity to the village as common land. This was done by first seeking permission from
their neighbouring village chief and then pursuing increased protection of interests over
forest resources. The rights are recognised through their residence in the areas and there are
families with tenure rights over certain resource plots gained by vested activities and
interests such as natural bee hives, certain bamboo plantations managed and harvested by the
owners, and trees for extracting benzoin (Styrax tonkinesis). There are few restrictions over
other activities which can be carried out by others such as harvesting vegetables,
mushrooms, bamboo, and building poles. It is understood that the forest plots are handled
and managed by the males in the family and handed appropriately to the son or son-in-law
who has assisted in the resource maintenance and takes interest in further production of the
resource.
There is an increasing population pressure on the forests and available resources in the
forests and this is a growing concern of the villagers themselves as they place such strong
cultural values on their appears
Reasons for Selecting the village
Paa Dip village is currently being exposed to major changes influencing the decisions of
household activities for a future existence. These changes stem from environmental
conditions, growing regional market systems, labour migration patterns and pose questions
of social and economic security. For instance, the natural flooding disasters of the past two
29

Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
consecutive years, causing detrimental soil erosion calls for attention as the villagers are
aware of becoming increasingly more dependent on forest resources with rice deficits rising
and a growing commercial value of NTFPs revealing new opportunities to exploit available
resources and generate profitable income.
Under these circumstances and with the enthusiasm of the villagers to develop sustainable
production of NTFP resources the Project field team has chosen Paa Dip village as a pilot
village site to practice and participate in activities in conservation and forests land
management, improve production and harvesting techniques and seek to join evolving
market systems for the betterment of their well-being.
Target Groups
With representatives participating from all groups of the village it has been mutually
recognised and understood by the Project that those poorer families including those most
reliant on NTFP resources will be targeted for involvement in project activities. These
groups include those with little or no rice field; some with a high deficit of rice and accruing
debts; individuals seeking wage labour activities outside the village are also those attached
to households expending more labour input and time in collection of forest products for
family subsistence, all of which are evidently more reliant on the forest products for future
sustainable income. Besides those target groups the Project will allow open opportunities
for other groups to be involved in the learning processes and activities to be implemented,
monitored for equitable participation.
Threats to Socio-Economic Success
The success of families economic growth and well-being will also depend greatly on the
cooperation and solidarity within the village and the distribution of tenurial usufruct rights.
Already it is recognised that the villagers are tending to more privatised land management
practices as opposed to village collectivised management of certain NTFP products for
example individually owned plots of bamboo in the forest. At present most of these plots are
owned by the less wealthier groups in the village but there have been two cases as mentioned
of the sale of these plots to those more wealthy as their value increases and debts need to be
repaid.
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
Appendix 4: Land and Tree Tenure
Tree and land tenure refers to the 'rights' which various people hold in relation to land and
trees. Bruce (1989) defines tenure as
'...the set of rights which a person or some private or public entity holds in land or
trees. A "tenure" is a "bundle of rights". Particular combinations or "bundles" of
rights in resources are recognised by law and custom in particular societies.'
In western capitalist countries, tenure is often thought of as ownership, in which something
is the property of a person or group. But even in these countries, ownership is rarely
exclusive, and the rights of the owner are usually limited in some respects. For example,
ownership may not prevent other persons from entering land to extract minerals located
under the land.
Asking about Tenure
(Adapted from Bruce 1989)
• Do not start with “Who owns the land?” or “Can land be sold?”
• Begin with questions about people’s use of trees or land, working from behaviour to
rules. In other words, understand what people have rights to use through learning
what they do use.
• Cross check by interviewing different people separately.
• Remember that the bundle of rights may be different for women and men.
Possible sequence of tenure questions-NTFP collected from trees
• Where are the trees from which you collected this product?
• Is there more than one tree from which you can collect?
• Are all the trees from which you can collect near each other?
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• Are the trees on the land where you grow rice this year or on which you grew rice in
previous years?
• Can other people from the village collect from these trees?
• Can you cut these trees down?
• Can other people cut these trees down? Who?
• Did you plant these trees?
• Who decided who can collect from these trees?
• If someone collected from these trees who should not do so, what would you do or
say?
• Would the other people in the village do or say anything?
Possible sequence of questions about land allocation for shifting cultivation.
• Which land will you grow upland rice on this year?
• Was the land farmed last year? By whom?
• Was the land fallow? How many years?
• Who farmed the land last time?
• Did you have to clear forest to make a new field?
• Why did you choose this land?
• Could you use other land of you wished? Where?
• Can you use any uncleared land you wished for farming?
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Socio-economic baseline survey and evaluation methodology
• Can you use any fallow land you wish for farming?
• Do you have to ask permission from any person or group before you clear land or use
a particular plot?
• From whom?
• If two people want to farm the same land, what would happen?
33