Forest-agriculture frontier in Laos

In many parts of the tropics, forest-agriculture frontiers dominated by diverse swidden landscapes are rapidly being converted to increasingly homogenous landscapes of commodified agriculture. Often labeled as “development”, these transformations have not generated desired social-ecological outcomes and often do not fairly benefit smallholders in these landscapes. Our research thus aims to examine the power relations, politics of forest and land use, and local agency underlying transformations in forest-agriculture frontiers, and assess options for more sustainable and equitable development.