The dominant activities in rural regions of Laos, where more than two thirds of poor Laos live, are agriculture and forestry. Natural resources like land, water and forest are plentiful but unevenly distributed between the regions. Conditions for commercial agriculture are particularly limited in the remote mountainous regions.

The mountain population, which is made up of many different ethnic minorities, continues to depend on subsistence farming and the use of natural resources. These communities have only limited access to infrastructure and social services for education, health and nutrition.

In the rural areas in which it works, German development cooperation is one of the most important partners of the Lao Government. The priority area of rural development includes support for people to play an active role in decision-making and local economic development, and in using natural resources to generate income while managing them sustainably. The aim is to improve the conditions under which rural populations in poor regions live.

Downloads

• Integrated rural development in mountainous areas of the Lao PDR (RDMA)
  A short description of the programme, ‘Integrated rural development in mountainous areas’.
  en-rural-development-mountainous-areas-laos.pdf, 0.13 MB (English)
• Land management and registration project (LMRP)
  A short description of the ‘Land management and registration’ programme
  en-land-management-registration-project-laos.pdf, 0.14 MB (English)
• Integrated rural development in poverty regions of the Lao PDR (NU-IRDP)
  A short description of the programme, ‘Integrated rural development in poverty regions in Laos’
  en-rural-development-poverty-regions-laos.pdf, 0.13 MB (English)