Pertanian Berkelanjutan Bagi Petani Kecil Di Laos: Studi Kasus Pendekatan Pertanian Cerdas Oleh Organisasi Lokal Nirlaba (ASDSP)
Khamphet Keosiripanyah, Professor Stein Kristiansen and Dr. Arini W. Uta
2022 | Tesis | S2 Manajemen
The government's direction to village levels is food security, commercial production, and enhancing nutrition aiming at poverty reduction and social economic development of Lao PDR.
This research identifies the main obstacles and opportunities of smallholder Lao farmers in four targeted districts that have conducted a smart model agricultural production project by the Association to Support the Development of Peasant Societies (ASDSP). To identify the key actors from the government and private sectors involved in supporting the development of vulnerable smallholder farmers, where most smallholder farmers depend on seasonal rice and crop production for supporting their livelihoods. Inadequacy of access to production tools and proper knowledge make smallholder farmers in rural areas become vulnerable. The issue of using imported chemical inputs (fertilizers) is becoming popular in many parts of Laos where not only smallholder farmer groups but also larger farmer groups apply the chemical fertilizers aiming to improve productivity and killing unnecessary weeds, however, consequent negative impacts directly to the livelihood and environment of the rural farmers, such as soil degradation, losing local biodiversity, health problem of consumers and raised animals, furthermore, the attention to use more chemical fertilizers could change smallholder farmer’s behaviours and understanding into the negative way, for instance, from my actual experience and observation found that farmers who have used chemical fertilizers turn to become lazier and mostly unaware about the negative impacts from chemical inputs. The aim of the study is to answer the following questions: How can new approaches of smart agriculture production contribute to the improvement of smallholder farmers’ agricultural productivity in a sustainable way? To what extent does the involvement from the government and private sectors support the professional practice of smallholder farmers? The data collection of my study is based on group and individual interviews of the targeted smallholder farmers, traders, and local governments.
Kata Kunci : pertanian, produktivitas, petani kecil, input kimia, degradasi, keanekaragaman hayati, pemerintah daerah, pendukung, cara berkelanjutan