Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. ῏ῑ, No. ῏, March ῎ῌ῍ῌCan Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable
Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Andreas N::;*, Pornsiri SJ:7EDC<H6C<**, Chanhsom M6CNI=DC<***
Wirachinee T68=::C6῎ and O<6I6 Kazuo῎῎Abstract
Most ethnic minority villages in northern Lao PDR continue to rely on non-timber forest
products (NTFPs) for much of their subsistence and cash economy. Paper mulberry(Broussonetia papyrifera) is an important NTFP in many parts of northern Laos, providing
opportunities for earning cash income, particularly for women. Since the plant has beensuccessfully domesticated by local people, it has also been widely proposed as the basis fora sustainable agroforestry system. The major objectives of this article are to investigate
the production, processing and marketing system of paper mulberry and to assess its
potential to contribute to building sustainable rural livelihoods in northern Lao PDR. We
also elucidate how this perennial plant has been affected by recent government policies,changes in resource management ῍ from gathering to domestication ῍ and current land
use transitions, drawing on a case study from Pha Oudom district, Bokeo province,
northern Laos. Whether a sustainable production and supply-chain management systemfor paper mulberry can be developed that provides a reliable ῍ albeit modest ῍ source ofincome for many ethnic minority villagers in northern Laos will largely depend on thecapacity of local producers to enhance product quality and to become more active andequal actors in the value chain, but most of all on the political will of the Lao government
to rethink its controversial agriculture and forest policies that aim at reducing agricultural
diversity and restrict access to NTFPs through resettlement of formerly forest-dependentcommunities.
Keywords: paper mulberry, non-timber forest products, agroforestry systems, rural livelihoods, northern Lao PDRῌFaculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Corresponding author’s e-mail: aneef῍agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp
ῌῌDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University,
Chiang Mai, ThailandῌῌῌGraduate School of Bioresources and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University,
Fukuoka, Japan῎ University of Hohenheim, c/o Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai
ῐῌ῎ῌῌ, Thailand῎῎ ῐῒ῏ῑῌ Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan403ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῏ῒ῏ ῏ ῒIIntroduction

Forests play a central role in the livelihoods of ethnic minorities in northern Laos.
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in particular are crucial resources for both thesubsistence economy and for cash income [Yokoyama ῎ῌῌ῏; Rigg ῎ῌῌῑ; Akimichi ῎ῌῌ῔].
Based on studies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Rigg [῎ῌῌῐ] reports that between ῑῌ and ῒῐῌ of poor villages in
Laos depend on the forest for most of their non-rice subsistence needs and for at least halfof their cash income.
Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) is an important non-timber forest product(NTFP) in northern Laos, providing opportunities for earning cash income, particularly
during the dry season, where the collection of the bark does not compete with otheractivities. Mulberry paper is durable and can be further processed into various highvalue products. In Chiang Mai, Thailand and in Luang Prabang, Laos, paper mulberry is
manufactured into a wide variety of products for the booming tourist industry. Paper
mulberry is also considered for its potential to improve upland rice-based fallow systems
because of its rapid growth, its relative resilience to fire and its capacity to suppress
weeds and improve soil fertility [Watanabe et al. ῎ῌῌ῏; Sakurai et al. ῎ῌῌῐ]. Studies suggestthat nutrients in deeper layers of the soil are absorbed by the trees and then returned tothe soil in form of organic matter by the tree’s biomass, which can benefit other cash
crops and rice production [Forsen et al. ῎ῌῌ῍].
The objective of this paper is to investigate production systems, processing activities
and the degree of commercialization of paper mulberry and to determine how this crop
affects rural people’s livelihoods and resource management. The paper also aims at
eliciting the impact of current government policies on the future contribution of NTFPs
to rural development.

II Study Sites and Methodology
The overview of the contribution of NTFP-based value chains to household cash revenues and livelihoods in three northern provinces of Lao PDR (Section ῌ) is based on
information gathered during a brief consultancy conducted in February/March ῎ῌῌΐ forthe Institute of Project Planning (IP-Consult), Stuttgart, which has been implementing
project components of a large-scale Lao-German rural development project (Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of Northern Lao PDR ῌ RDMA) instigated by the German
Agency of Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in the provinces of Bokeo, Luang Namtha andSayabouri (Fig. ῍ ).
The study villages were chosen after discussions with the local agricultural or404

Aῌ N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Fig. ῌ Map of Surveyed Provinces, Districts and Study Villages
Source: Map by Peter Elstner

natural resource management advisors of RDMA. In all ῎῏ selected study villages, groupinterviews with the village headman and members of the village committee were conducted. Interested villagers were also invited to join. Participation in the group meetings
ranged from ῐῌ῏῍ persons, with an average of ΐῌ῕ participants. Additional information
was gained from unstructured interviews with NTFP traders in Sienghone district andfrom a local manager of NTFP nurseries in Pha Oudom district. Direct observation wasapplied in the case of NTFP processing and trading. Relevant project documents, monitoring data and journal articles were collected and reviewed as secondary information.
The in-depth analysis of the paper mulberry value chain (Chapter ῌ) was done inthree villages of Pha Oudom district, Bokeo province, during an interdisciplinary study
project conducted from March-May ῏῍῍῔ and coordinated by Dr. Andreas Neef and Dr.
Pornsiri Suebpongsang. Primary data were obtained from field surveys, observations
during harvesting and structured interviews with ῑῒ farm households of three different
ethnic minority groups (Lamet, Khmu, Hmong) and three Lao traders in Pha Oudom
district, Bokeo province, northern Laos, and a Thai processor in Sankampaeng district,
Chiang Mai province, North Thailand. Additional secondary information was used to405῔῕῎῏῎ῒῑ ῏ῑῐ ῏ ΐanalyze the marketing system.

III Contribution of NTFP-based Value Chains to Rural Livelihoods inThree Northern Provinces of Lao PDR
The purpose of this section is to present recent trends in the contribution of non-timber
forest products (NTFPs) and their value chains to household income and rural livelihoods, with a major focus on plant-based NTFPs.
III. ῍Naturally Occurring NTFPs and Contributions to the Rural Cash Economy

Naturally occurring NTFPs have long been an important supplement for rural people’s
diet in northern Lao PDR. Due to enhanced accessibility of villages and rising demand inneighbouring countries, particularly Thailand and China, they have also become a major
source of cash revenues (Table ῍ ).
The figures presented in Table ῍ are only rough estimates by members of the village
committees during the group interviews based on data of the entire village. Thus, they
only present the average contribution of NTFPs to household cash revenues and do notconsider labour costs and other input costs (this also applies to the figures and calculations in Chapter ῌ). Due to difficulties in estimating cash revenues from livestock andhunting, only the “plant-based” household cash revenues were calculated. Yet, the figures show a clear trend: in those areas that have been only recently connected to markets
for NTFPs and where farmers are primarily subsistence-oriented, the average contribution of plant-based NTFPs is still relatively high, particularly in Nalae and Meung, two
districts that have remained fairly isolated until ῎ῌῌῐ. In more market-oriented districts,
such as Khop district in Sayabouri, bordering Thailand with good market opportunities
for Job’s Tears, maize and sesame, the contribution of NTFPs to plant-derived household
cash revenues has already declined to less than ῍ῐ῍ on average. In Khop district, thediversity of commercial NTFPs is also diminished. The lowest economic importance of
NTFPs can be witnessed in Sing district, Luang Namtha province, mainly as a result of
rubber expansion into former forestland and swidden cultivation areas.
Table ῌMain Plant-based NTFPs and their Contribution to Household Cash Revenues

Districts
Nalae (Luang Namtha)
Meung (Bokeo)
Pha Oudom (Bokeo)
Khop (Sayabouri)
Sing (Luang Namtha)

Main Commercial Plant-derived NTFPs

Average Contribution to
Plant-based HH Cash
Revenues in Percent ῍ )Sugar palm, incense bark, mushrooms
Sugar palm, rattan shoots, incense bark
Paper mulberry, incense bark, sugar palm
Paper mulberry, incense bark, broom grass
Broom grass

῎ῌῌῐῌ
῍ῐῌ῎ῌ
῍ῐῌ῎ῌ
ῐῌ῍ῐ
ῌῐ

Note: ῍) Village committees’ estimate; main author’s survey ῎ῌῌῒ406

A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

III. 

Current Pressure on NTFPs Due to Government Policies

The government of Lao PDR is getting increasingly serious in its fight against swidden
cultivation, with the target of eliminating this practice ῌ deemed unsustainable byagricultural and forest officials ῌ by the year . Relocation of villages from uplandforest areas ῌ causing a doubling of the population in some lowland and midland regions
ῌ and various types of ‘encouragement’ to establish commercial tree plantations haveconsiderably reduced fallow periods within only a few years, a process that has taken
several decades in neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, where swidden cultivation also has been branded as a backward and unsustainable practice bypolicy makers and extension workers who tend to ignore scientific evidence in favour ofswidden agriculture in certain environments. A number of recent studies have foundthat some types of swidden cultivation, such as rotational swiddening and composite
swidden systems can be fairly sustainable practices, even under rising population pressure [cf. Rigg ; Tran Duc Vien et al. ].
Closely related to the shortening of fallow periods in swidden fields is the reduced
availability or complete disappearance of a range of NTFPs that can only develop after
a sufficiently long fallow period. Table  shows some of the problems related to NTFP
availability that villagers in the  study villages reported in the group meetings. The
trend towards shorter fallow periods induced by government policies and rising populaTable ῌ

Shortening of Fallow Periods and Related Problems for NTFP Availability in theSurveyed Districts

District

Fallow Length

Reported Problems

Nalae (Luang Namtha)῍ years

Sugar palms have disappeared from swidden fields,
villagers have difficulties in protecting their NTFPs
against outsiders

Pha Oudom (Bokeo)

῍ years

Cardamom can only be found in protection forest,
paper mulberry and peuak meuak (for incense bark)need to be planted

years

No time for rattan to reach maturity, the occurrence ofsugar palms is drastically diminished

Sienghone (Sayabouri)῍ years

Rattan shoots are sold (at lower prices) instead of themore profitable rattan canes, sugar palms havedisappeared

Khop (Sayabouri)῍ years

No sugar palms in the entire area since , bong bark
disappeared in  , paper mulberry mostly
harvested from plantations

Sing (Luang Namtha)῍ year

Broom grass remains the only naturally occurring
NTFP with some commercial value, bamboo shoots
need to be planted

Meung (Bokeo)

Source: Main author’s survey 
Note: Sample of two villages per district; information based on statements made in groupmeetings407ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῐῒ῎ ῐ ῑtion pressure significantly reduces the diversity of NTFPs. Fig. ῎ depicts the close link
between swidden fallow periods and the availability of selected NTFPs.

While therelatively low-value NTFPs, such as broom grass and paper mulberry, can thrive in short
fallow systems, high-value NTFPs like cardamom, rattan and sugar palm need much
longer fallow periods to reach maturity.
The current dynamics of extraction and cultivation of naturally occurring NTFPs
are visualized in Fig. ῏. While broom grass is in a rapid expansion phase, the extractionof bamboo and rattan shoots appears to be relatively stable, while natural stands of paper
mulberry and sugar palm and ῌ in particular ῌ rattan canes are currently on the decline

Fig. ῌ

Link between Swidden Fallow Periods, Major Driving
Forces and Availability of NTFPs

Source: Based on Yokoyama [῎ῌῌῐ] and main author’s survey ῎ῌῌΐNote: Quantity gathered: small ῌ, moderate ῌ

Fig. ῍

The Dynamics of Extraction and Cultivation of Major NTFPs in
the Three Target Provinces

Source: Draft based on Homma [῍῔῔ῑ] and Ribeiro and Darnhofer [῎ῌῌῒ];main author’s survey ῎ῌῌΐNote: The curves depict trends for individual NTFPs only.
408

Aῌ N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Fig. ῌ

Types of Access and Tenure Regimes for NTFPs in theTarget Provinces
Source: Main author’s survey ῎῍῍ῐNote: !Unregulated property’ refers to communally managed resources without established rules and regulations regarding extraction; !regulated property’ refers to resources whose extraction is subject to rules and regulations devised by a communal
authority and generally accepted by community members.

due to over-exploitation. Cardamom could either be about to disappear in most areas
and/or on the brink of a slow domestication process in other regions, while incense barkand particularly paper mulberry have already been successfully domesticated in Pha
Oudom, Bokeo province and in most parts of Sayabouri province.
In this dynamic environment, the types of access and tenure regimes for NTFPs arealso quickly adapting to new realities (Fig. ῏ ). While until recently natural stands ofpaper mulberry used to be considered as an unregulated common property by many
ethnic groups [cf. Yokoyama ῎῍῍῏], its extraction has now become more regulated inseveral locations. In some villages, such as Panghai in Khop district, Sayabouri, paper
mulberry stands are regarded as individual property within the production forest inwhich each family knows the boundaries, since the area had been used for swidden
cultivation of upland rice prior to the land use planning process.
The extraction of sugar palm seeds is also regulated: mobile traders would arrange
an appointment a few days in advance with the village headman, who then announces toall villagers that they can start to harvest palm seeds. During this very short period,
villagers are allowed to extract as much as they can find on a ‘first-come, first-served’basis. Only in a Black Lahu village in Meung district, the village committee reported thatvillagers can claim individual use rights to sugar palms by marking them with a special
sign. In all communities outsiders are not allowed to harvest sugar palm, paper mulberry
and incense bark. Broom grass, on the other hand, is regarded in all villages as an open
access resource, as it now grows nearly everywhere in short-fallow fields and alongroadsides. This finding contrasts with an earlier study of Yokoyama [῎῍῍῏] who foundthat broom grass could only be gathered on individual swidden fields.
409ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῏  ῒIV NTFP Value Chains: Paper Mulberry in Pha Oudom District,Bokeo Province
The successful domestication of paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) suggests thatnew opportunities are arising for developing sustainable agroforestry systems in northern Laos, particularly as farmers are under intense pressure to reduce their fallow
periods. Paper mulberry is a particularly interesting perennial crop as it can be used for
multiple purposes (soil improvement, weed suppression, animal feed, cash income frombark, fuel wood) and its production and management system is very flexible, making itsuitable for a variety of socio-economic conditions [Aubertin ; Watanabe et al. ;Fahrney et al. ; Manythong ; Ogata et al. ; Saito et al. ].
IV. 

Characteristics of the Farm Households

Demography. On average surveyed farm households can be characterized as a large
family that consists of around eight people. Yet, ethnic differences are considerable. In
Huay Paen (Lamet/Khmu) the medium family size is around five persons, while in Tam
Pha Kae (Hmong) the family size is much larger, with about nine persons slightly higher
than in Huay Sang (Khmu). About three family members work on the farm, and nearly
all of them are involved in the paper mulberry production system (Table).

Cropping systems. Most farm households practice multiple cropping systems, with rice,

Table ῌDemographic Characteristics of the Farm Households
Mean Number of Family Members

Variable

Huay Paen(nῌ  )

Huay Sang(nῌ  )Tam Pha Kae(nῌ  )

Total(nῌ  )

Family size
Total family members
Male
Female
















Age structure
under  years oldῌ  years oldolder than  years





Average number of family member
work on farmFamily members involved in paper
mulberry production
Male
Female

Source: Authors’ survey 
410




















A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Fig. ῌ

Contribution of Major Crops to Total Crop-based Cash
Revenues
Source: Authors’ survey maize, chili and sesame being the most important crops. Maize, upland rice and chili areplanted in June, while sesame is planted in July. The cropping systems in Huay Paen are
more diversified than those in Huay Sang and Tam Pha Kae (Fig.  ). This is probably
due to the fact that Huay Paen is located closer to the center of Pha Oudom district andtherefore has better market access.
IV. Socio-economics of NTFPs

Contribution of NTFPs to the household economy. The most important NTFPs in the
study area include paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), sugar palm (Arenga westerhoutii), broom grass (Thysanolaena latifolia) and incense bark from peauk meuak (Bochmeria malabarica). Most households are involved in paper mulberry production especiallyin Tam Pha Kae and Huay Sang (Fig.  ).
Farm and household economy. The average family cash revenues from cropping and
NTFPs for all households in the sample was  Kip in /. Households in Huay
Paen generated the highest average cash revenues with   Kip, while Huay Sang
had the lowest with only   Kip per year (Table). Considering the source of cash

revenues, the village with the highest average cash revenues had the lowest contributionof paper mulberry cash revenues in total cash revenues. The correlation between cash
crop revenues and paper mulberry revenues is negative which means that for poorer
households paper mulberry provides a crucial supplementary source of cash revenues(Fig.  ).
As confirmed by other studies, poorer households collect significantly more plantbased NTFPs compared to more affluent households.

In households with average

plant-based cash revenues of less than  million Kip, NTFPs provided between  ῌ (inHuay Paen) and nearly ῌ (in Tam Pha Kae) of the total plant-based cash revenues. This
underscores the importance of NTFPs as a safety net for the poor and as a crucial411ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῏  ῒFig. ῍ Contribution of Major NTFPs to Total NTFP Cash Revenues
Source: Authors’ survey 

Table ῌCash Revenues from Various Activities

Cash revenues
Revenues from cash crops(Kip/year)

Huay Pean(nῌ ) 

Huay Sang(nῌ  )

Tham Pha Kae(nῌ  )

   

Total(nῌ  ) 

Cash revenues from NTFPs(Kip/year)

 

 



Cash revenues from paper mulberry(Kip/year)   

 

 

Contribution of paper mulberry tototal cash revenues



 







  Source: Authors’ survey provider of cash revenues during food insecure periods. Families endowed with enoughagricultural land can derive relatively high cash revenues from crop production and rely
much less on NTFPs including paper mulberry production and harvesting.
We also found a positive correlation between the number of female family members
and family cash revenues from paper mulberry (data not shown) which implies that
paper mulberry is predominantly an income opportunity for women.
IV. 

Production and Collection Systems of Paper Mulberry

IV. .  Production
In northern Laos, ethnic minority groups have collected paper mulberry bark from theforests surrounding their villages for decades. Paper mulberry prefers moist alluvial soils[Aubertin ; Fahrney et al. ; Saito et al. ]. River and stream valleys or lowland
moist areas are the best places for this perennial plant to grow.

However, due topopulation pressure, decline of forest resources and over-harvesting, today villagers have412

A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Fig. ῍

Relationship between Revenues from Paper Mulberry and Total CashCrop Revenues
Source: Authors’ survey 
Table ῌContribution of Cash Revenues Classified by Source and Wealth Class of Farmers

Huay Paen
Wealth Class of Farmers(nῌ )by Total Plant-based Cash
Revenues (Kip)
Cash crops
NFTP῍     ῌ  ῎  



 



 

Huay Sang(nῌ )Tam Pha Kae(nῌ )Cash crops

NFTP

Cash crops

NFTP





 



 
 


 
 


Source: Authors’ survey to spend more time and labor to collect the same amount of bark as before. In addition,
the product collected from the forest is often of inferior quality since villagers harvest
whatever bark of paper mulberry trees they can find because of competition with othercollectors and the lack of management and harvesting regulations. As a result, some
farmers have started to grow paper mulberry in their home gardens, upland rice fields
and fallows [Fahrney et al. ]. Growth rates on the upland fields are considered lower
than in lowland areas where it is possible to reap the first harvest ῌ months after
planting the trees. In contrast, in the upland fields farmers may need to wait ῌ
months for the first harvest.
Forsen et al. [] reports that in the Lao PDR paper mulberry is grown in threedifferent ways, namely in natural stands, cultivated stands and inter-cropping systems.
413ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῐῒ῎ ῐ ῑPaper mulberry bark harvested from natural stands is considered as a NTFP and mainly
found in secondary hillside forest.

The determination of the source of the bark isimportant since traders who want to export bark that is classified as NTFPs need toobtain a quota from the government and pay a ‘natural resource tax.’ Paper mulberrybark that stems from cultivated stands is exempted from the quota and tax system. Yet,
we could not find out how tax collectors would determine ῌ or how traders can provide
evidence ῌ whether mulberry bark comes from cultivated or natural stands.
Harvesting from natural stands does not require any capital investment and little
labor input in terms of management such as planting and pruning. However, since theprice for paper mulberry bark increased and more people have begun to collect the barkin Pha Oudom district, it is becoming harder to find natural stands of paper mulberry.
This can be described as the problem of an open access resource that becomes degraded(see Chapter ῌ. ῎ ). Another disadvantage with collecting bark from natural stands isthat the yield is often low and the quality is poor compared to bark harvested fromplantations.
As paper mulberry is among the NTFPs that can be easily domesticated, moreland-rich farmers in Pha Oudom district have started to cultivate paper mulberry in theirfields.

The most entrepreneurial villagers have even set up small nurseries, partly

supported by external development assistance (see example in Box ῍ ). Some farmers are
growing paper mulberry trees on upland rice fields. This system can be considered asinter-cropping: in their upland rice field, farmers would plant rice in the second half of
May and then transplant paper mulberry seedlings in July. In some rice fields youngshoots and seedlings of paper mulberry grow from roots and seeds from the previous
generation that was cut and burned before planting rice; in this case farmers just keep theshoots and seedlings and add more seedlings into the field if needed.
The GTZ-funded project RDMA Bokeo supported the establishment of a private NTFP and fruit
tree nursery in Huay Paen, a village with Lamet and Khmu population. The village does nothave any wet-rice area, but the upland agricultural area is relatively large and during the land
use planning process big areas of conservation, protection and production forests have beendelineated. Mr. Kammanh, the manager of the NTFP and fruit tree nursery, is the village’s
vice-headman and member of the village committee, responsible for land use planning. He
obtained a credit from the Village Development Fund (VDF) of ῐ῔ῌῌῌ Baht and contributed his
own budget of ῏῔ῌῌῌ Baht. Last year he sold ῍῔ῑῌῌ seedlings of paper mulberry, ῍῔ῑῌῌ seedlingsof peuak muak (for production of incense bark), ῐῌῌ῍ῑῌῌ seedlings of agarwood and around ῎ῒῑseedlings of mango and jackfruit to farmers from Huay Paen and neighbouring villages. His
net benefit after paying back his loan to the VDF was around ῏ million Kip (ca. ῍ῌ῔ῒῌῌ Baht or῏῏ῌ US-$) in ῎ῌῌῒ.
Despite his success he will reduce the area of the nursery this year from ῏῔ῑῌῌ m῎ to ῒῌῌ m῎. Hestated that he lacks the labour force to manage such a big nursery. He will grow rubber on oneof his two upland plots next year, along with ῍ῑ other farmers in his village, and needs toinvest a lot of labour into this new activity.
Box ῌ

Successful Domestication of NTFPs: The case of Mr. Kammanh in Huay Paen Village,
Pha Oudom District, Bokeo Province
Source: Own survey, February ῎ῌῌΐ414

Aῌ N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Fig. ῌ

Types of Paper Mulberry Production Systems

The example in Box ῎ shows how external project support in Pha Oudom helped toestablish a village nursery for various NTFPs. Yet, it also shows the challenges that suchinitiatives face with the current expansion of rubber plantations.
Hmong farmers in Tam Pha Kae appear to be particularly keen on securing cash
income from mulberry bark production and benefitting from the various other byproducts of paper mulberry trees. The majority of the respondents in this village statedthat they have established paper mulberry plantations in recent years (Fig. ῔ ). Some
farmers reported they have been growing paper mulberry on more than ῎ hectare andharvest around ῒ῍῍ kg per season.
In sum, the particular appeal of paper mulberry cultivation is that the crop requires
relatively little management and that farmers can use it very flexibly, i.e. they can adjust
plant densities, growing periods, harvesting times and plant parts used according to their
specific needs [Aubertin ῏῍῍ῑ; Fahrney et al. ῏῍῍ΐ].
IV. ῐ. ῏ Harvesting and Post-harvest HandlingWithin one day a farmer can collect between ῎῍ and ῐ῍ kg of fresh bark.

Farmers

harvested bark from whatever paper mulberry trees they found, which usually are oldtrees (two to three years old). Farmers reported that they had been informed by local
traders to collect primarily the bark from young trees (around one year of age) and to
separate the bark from the young and old trees to obtain different grades and prices. Yet,most of the respondents collected the bark from older trees to get more weight per unitof labor. Usually, the collectors mix the bark of different qualities and sell it to the trader
as one grade, which then yields the lowest price (referred to as grade C). Most of the
farmers harvest the bark from the main stems, only occasionally bark is collected also
from the branches. Debarked stems and branches are left to dry and then used forfuelwood if the harvesting areas are not too distant from the residential area.
When paper mulberry bark is harvested, the stems of the trees are cut about ῑ῍415ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῐῑ῎ ῐ ῑcentimeters above the ground. The bark is pulled from the stems and occasionally fromthe branches. Then farmers carry the bark back to the village where they have to strip
the outer bark off as soon as possible; otherwise it would be very difficult to peel once thebark becomes dry. After peeling, the inner bark would be dried for two to three hours
and kept in a dry place until the local trader arrives.
Some studies report that harvesting of paper mulberry bark is done all year round,while others suggest two main periods, namely late February to the beginning of April
and September to October [Forsen et al. ῎ῌῌ῍; Fahrney et al. ῎ῌῌῑ; Saito et al. ῎ῌῌῒ].
However, from our study site, farmers harvested only from February to April due toavailable labor in a time where they do not need to work in the rice fields or are occupied
with other agricultural activities. In addition, respondents indicated that this time ῌ thehot dry season ῌ is very suitable for debarking and drying the bark.
A village trader in Tam Pha Kae (Hmong) reported that including bark from natural
stands and cultivated stands, he collected more than ῎ tons a year from the villagers. He
also indicated that on average a family in this community got a harvest of around ῍ῌῌ kg

Photos ῌῌ῍ Debarking Paper Mulberry Stems (Photo ῍), Carrying the Fresh Bark
from the Field to the Homestead (Photo ῎), Stripping the Inner Bark
(Photo ῏), and Sun-drying the Cleaned Inner Bark (Photo ῐ).
416

A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

of dry bark annually. By contrast, in Huay Paen village (Lamet and Khmu) the average
harvested bark per family was reported to be only  kg per year.
In order to assess the time spent for post-harvest handling and determine the weight
loss, we recorded the entire process in several occasions. We found that the farmers spent
one hour for peeling  kg of the bark. On average, one farmer got  kg of the bark sothey spent three hours in the afternoon for peeling all the bark. After the peeling process,farmers would sun-dry the inner bark for ῍ hours. During the process ῌ from the freshbark to the dry inner bark ῌ around ῍ of fresh weight was lost. Hence, in one day, thefarmers got  kg of dry inner bark from  kg of the fresh bark, indicating a conversion
ratio of fresh bark to peeled and dried bark of  .
From an average of  kg of fresh bark collected in one day,  kg of dried inner bark
can be obtained after labor-intensive, manual cleaning and sun-drying. The price for  kg
of dried bark was around   Kip in  , which implies a total gross margin of   Kip(  US-$) per day. When the opportunity costs of time for the farmers are calculated at US-$ per day, the net profit of   US-$ per day appears attractive, particularly as theharvesting period of paper mulberry is flexible and does not compete with agriculturalactivities.
Since stripping of the inner bark is a time-consuming activity, the RDMA project incooperation with the Uplands Program tested the efficiency and economic viability ofmachine-stripping of the inner bark in comparison with manual stripping. Fig.  showsthat the machine ῌ a prototype developed by Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand
ῌ is mostly superior to manual cleaning in terms of time needed, except for two rangesof diameter (ῌ  and ῌ ).

The machine has been successfully used by an

innovative farmer in Huay Paen who stated that farmers in neighbouring villages haveexpressed their strong interest in using the machine. Yet, before promoting the use ofmachines on a wider scale, the gender impact needs to receive attention since manual
stripping is traditionally women’s work and machine-stripping tends to be done by men

Fig. ῌ

Time Requirement of Manual vs. Machine Stripping of Inner Bark ofPaper Mulberry
Source: Authors’ experiment 417ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῏ῒ῏ ῏ ῒPhoto ῌKhmu Woman Stripping the Inner
Bark of Paper Mulberry

Photo ῍Testing the Labour Requirementand Economic Viability of Machine
Stripping(Photos ῐ and ῑ ).
IV. ῏Commercialization of Paper Mulberry Bark

Paper mulberry has been harvested and processed into paper in Laos for many decades.
In earlier times, for example, mulberry paper was used for wrapping opium. Recently
new markets have opened up through tourism and exports [Forsen et al. ῎ῌῌ῍]. In a firststep, the dried inner bark is further processed into pulp which is the main material for
producing paper. This type of paper (commonly known as saa paper in Lao PDR and
Thailand) is used for making a variety of products, such as boxes, envelopes, picture
frames, paper strings, lamps, and umbrellas. Yet, none of the respondents in our sample
in Pha Oudom district processes either pulp or paper. Only ῏ΐ῏ ῌ of the respondents knewthat the final product of their bark is paper.
IV. ῏. ῍ Marketing channels in Lao PDR
The inner bark is marketed by three types of traders: village collectors, district collectors
and provincial traders. Each trader plays a different role in the marketing channel andoffers various services in the value chain, such as transport, credit and storage.
Village collectors. The village collector buys the bark and/or other cash crops from thefarmer in the village and from the nearby village. In the study area there are ῍ῌ῎ village
collectors in each village and they pay the farmers in cash. There is usually a farmer inthe village who acts as the village collector. The village collector will mainly transport
the bark to district traders in Pha Oudom.
District traders.

The district traders buy cash crops from the village collectors ordirectly from farmers, store them and then transport them to provincial traders, forexample in Bokeo province or in Luang Prabang province. Selling to the provincial
trader in Bokeo province is the preferred destination, as the trader would get lower profit
418

A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

from selling in Luang Prabang owing to the higher transportation costs. Moreover,
Luang Prabang provincial traders prefer to buy the bark in a compressed form in order
to be able to take a larger quantity. The provincial traders would give only one grade forthe entire bark in the truck and then offers the price related to the estimated grade. The
main reason for not exporting the bark directly to Thailand indicated by district traders
was that they fear the complexity of the export process and the high export expenses,
including shipping cost by boat and customs tariffs. The costs and net profits of farmers,
village collectors and district traders are shown in Table .
Yet, village collectors do not operate in every village, many district traders collectthe dried bark directly from individual farmers or farmers may bring their produce to the
district trader with their own means of transportation (e.g. on foot). Hence, the entire
marketing chain within Laos is characterized by a simple, linear structure with various
profit-taking stages (Fig. ).
Table ῎Costs and Profits of Different Actors in the Value Chain (per kg of dried bark)

Item

FarmerVillage Collector

District TraderPrice (Kip)
Gross margin
Opportunity costs
Transportation costs
Taxes and duty
Net profit




ῌ
ῌ




ῌ

ῌ



 
ῌ




Source: Authors’ survey Fig. ῍ῌ Linear Marketing Channels for Paper Mulberry in Laos and the Main
Importing Country Thailand419

ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῐῒ῎ ῐ ῑProvincial traders. The bark from Pha Oudom is mainly sold to two provincial traders
without any quota. The traders would buy all the bark from Pha Oudom which shows
the potential of increasing paper mulberry production. The trader transports the bark toa border point in Huay Xai. The bark is transported by boat to the border traders in
Chiang Khong in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. The freight-space of the boat
ranges from ῑῌ῏ῌ tonnes, depending on the vessel. The bark is sold in a pre-graded form
to Thai traders. Most of the time the payment is done in cash, but during the period ofoversupply the provincial trader has to give Thai buyers a credit for up to one month[Forsen et al. ῎ῌῌ῍].

The average purchasing price of the provincial trader at the

beginning of ῎ῌῌῒ was ῍ῐῌ῍ΐ baht per kg depending on the grade.
IV. ῐ. ῎ The Thai Part of the Supply Chain
The total national consumption of paper mulberry bark in Lao PDR is estimated at not
more than ῍ῌῌ tonnes per year [Helberg ῎ῌῌῑ], while most of the bark harvested by theestimated ῎ῒ῔ῌῌῌ Lao bark collectors is destined for export to Thailand. The final gradingof the dried bark is also done in Thailand which effectively blocks imports of processedmulberry bark (e.g. in the form of pulp or paper sheets) through a high import tariff
system. In the entire commercialization process of paper mulberry, Thailand turns animported raw material worth less than ῍ million US-$ annually into paper products
worth around ῑῌ million US-$ [Midgley et al. ῎ῌῌῒ].
Thai border traders. Forsen et al. [῎ῌῌ῍] reported that there are many different border
traders buying cash crops from local traders in Laos and selling them to manufacturing
companies in Thailand. Some Thai border traders buy ungraded bark and grade itthemselves. The lack of storage facilities is a major problem for Thai border traders
forcing them to sell it to Thai paper manufactory without being able to stock-pile it intimes of oversupply and lower prices.
The information transfer between the bark’s origin and the end market of the bark
can be classified as insufficient and non-transparent. Thai border traders do not know
the origin of the bark from Laos, while Lao farmers do not know the final users of thedried bark and which types of products the bark will be processed into.
Trade flows at the Thai-Lao border. According to the report of the Customs Office at
the Thai-Lao border in Chiang Rai and Loei provinces, the import quantity of paper
mulberry bark from Laos has fluctuated since ῎ῌῌ῎ due to the instability of Thai domestic
supply and demand for imported paper mulberry bark and the variability of supply in
Laos (Table ῒ).
Manufacturers in Thailand. Paper mulberry bark has been used in Thailand as raw
material for handmade paper for a long time, especially in the northern part. Traditionally the paper has been used for Buddhist scripts, temple decorations at festival times,
umbrellas, fans and kite making. In former times it was also used as a filter in the
manufacture of lacquer ware.
420

Farmers also used to make strings and ropes from

A N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

Table ῌQuantity and Value of Paper Mulberry
Shipped from Laos to Thailand at the
Chiang Khong Border from ῍Year

Quantity (in tonnes)

Value (Baht)







 





      


mulberry fibers prior to the introduction of substitute materials, such as
sisal

and

nylon

[Aubertin].

Today it is used for a wide variety ofdomestic and industrial purposes, including paper towels in hospitals,
wrapping and gift paper, wallpaper,lampshades,

Source: Authors’ survey ; data from Chiang
Khong border office 

bookmarks,

picture-frames and greetings cards.
The largest processing factorywith an annual capacity of 

tonnes of bark is located in Sukhothai province [Fahrney et al. ]. Paper mulberrybark in Thailand is produced both with machines and by hand. Approximately  ῌ ofthe paper is processed with machines and the rest by hand [Forsen et al. ].
Exports from Thailand to other countries. While low-quality paper is processed into
domestic paper products, high-grade mulberry bark and processed mulberry paper fromThailand is exported primarily to Japan and South Korea. The highest quality ῌ superA ῌ is exported without further processing to Japan where the bark is reportedly
processed into special paper for banknotes, liturgical objects, lanterns and luxury stationary [Aubertin ; Fahrney et al. ]. Demand in South Korea appears to be similarly
fluctuating as domestic demand in Thailand: according to Kang and Kohroki [ ]imports of paper mulberry increased from tonnes in  to   tonnes in and then dropped sharply to  tonnes in  .
IV. Impact of Government Policies and Land Use Change on the Future of Paper Mulberry
Production Systems

According to Aubertin [] the Lao government has not shown much interest in paper
mulberry production. She reports that the plant neither was included in the national
agricultural census of /

nor did it appear in the list of plants for which the

Ministry of Agriculture issued production forecasts for the /  harvest. This lackof interest contrasts sharply with the great deal of local innovation as regards paper
mulberry domestication and farmers’ experimentation with a variety of mixed cropping
systems based on paper mulberry which appears to have not been actively supported by
the District Agricultural and Forestry Offices in northern Laos.
The legal framework that may affect the further development of paper mulberry
production ῌand other NTFPs ῌ has been described as fragmentary and inconsistent[Rigg ; Ribeiro and Darnhofer ]. The Lao Forest Law differentiates between
customary use of NTFPs for subsistence purposes and the commercial use of NTFPs, thelatter being regulated by quotas and taxes [GoL 
ofer ].

; Helberg ; Ribeiro and Darnh-

While groups with long-standing forest use rights are entitled to collect421

ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῏ῒ῎ ῏ ῑNTFPs and firewood in production forests, they can only do so without causing damage
to the forest ῌ which is open to varying interpretations [cf. Rigg ῎ῌῌῑ].

Frequent

resettlements also contribute to insecurity of land use and prevent villagers fromdeveloping sustainable management systems for NTFPs.
The Land and Forest Allocation policy is driven by the government’s goal toeradicate shifting cultivation and to stabilize agriculture. In sloping land, farm households can only receive up to three plots, which reduces the fallow period to a maximumof two years. Permanent land titles ῌ LTD ῌ῍ or bai ta din ῌ are allocated by the District
Land Office (DLO) for permanent types of land uses, such as housing land, home gardens,
paddy land and tree plantations. In rare cases such LTD ῌ῍ would also be issued for paper
mulberry plantations, as stated by one DAFO officer in Sienghone district (Sayabouri),
but this could not be verified in the surveyed villages in Pha Oudom district (Bokeo)
where the land allocation process has been marked by particularly strong legal ambiguities and severe land use conflicts between and within local communities. Secure land use
titles are definitely not issued for long-term land use on the basis of annual crops, and it
is unclear whether they are issued for agroforestry systems, e.g. paper mulberry or teaktrees intercropped with upland rice. One officer of the DLO in Meung district (Bokeo
province) stated that the Land Law of ῎ῌῌῐ does not clearly indicate whether combinations of annual crops and perennial crops or trees would classify as permanent land use
systems. Hence, while paper mulberry plantations in mono-culture do not appear to be
sufficiently supported by the official tenure policy, the more flexible integration of paper
mulberry trees in multiple cropping systems seems to be even more bypassed andundermined by current government policies.
The natural occurrence of paper mulberry in Pha Oudom district appears to beparticularly doomed if current trends of land use change from swidden farming to rubber
monoculture continue. Rubber plantations promoted by foreign investors and the Laogovernment alike have not only reduced the area of production forests and swidden
agriculture, but are also increasingly entering into paddy fields and protection andconservation forests. In this process, thousands of land-poor ethnic minority villagers aregradually losing a significant source of income and a crucial buffer against seasonal foodand cash shortages.

V

Conclusions: Potential and Constraints of Developing Paper Mulberry
Value Chains in Support of Sustainable Rural Livelihoods

While Foppes and Ketpanh [῎ῌῌῌ: ῍ῐ] expressed optimism that “Lao PDR has a remarkable
opportunity to build a strong NTFP sub-sector as a basis for sustainable economic
development in the Southeast Asian region, Rigg [῎ῌῌῑ: ῍῎ΐ] holds that “the best outcomein the medium term is that NTFPs will become a niche livelihood activity undertaken by422

Aῌ N::; et al. : Can Paper Mulberry Contribute to Building Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Northern Laos ?

the few, rather than the many”. With regard to naturally occurring paper mulberry the
position taken by Rigg seems to be the more likely scenario. Collection from natural
stands will decline with negative implications for the poor and landless ῌ and for ethnic
minority women in particular, while more management-intensive systems and monocultures of paper mulberry may expand in the medium term, with potentially negative
consequences for biodiversity. Whether paper mulberry can become a profitable component of sustainable agroforestry systems depends strongly on the willingness of the Laogovernment to support more diversified upland production systems rather than promoting rubber and other tree plantations as the single model for resource-based poverty
alleviation in northern Laos.

Recent studies have amassed sufficient evidence thatagronomic performance and economic productivity of properly managed paper mulberry
ῌupland rice rotations can be superior to traditional swidden systems [Watanabe et al.

῎῍῍῏; Fahrney et al. ῎῍῍ῑ; Saito et al. ῎῍῍ῒ].
The value-chain analysis for paper mulberry conducted in Pha Oudom has confirmed
the typical weaknesses of the NTFP sector in northern Lao PDR; village-based processingof paper mulberry is limited to very early stages of the value chain (stripping the innerbark, cleaning, drying). There are currently few attempts by villagers to improve thequality of paper mulberry bark, although the trend towards bark collection from cultivated stands is likely to indirectly contribute to quality improvement. To date, villagers do
not actively seek for marketing channels and due to the absence of producer or marketing cooperatives trade conditions and market prices cannot be negotiated, but are set byother actors, such as district and provincial traders and ῌ in particular ῌ by Thai
importers. Lessons learned from various internationally funded projects in northern Lao
PDR suggest that NTFP marketing groups can be successfully established with sufficient
external support [e.g. Ingles et al. ῎῍῍ῐ]. Yet, there is no sufficient evidence that suchmarketing groups are viable beyond the project duration and whether such initiatives
are taken up spontaneously in neighbouring villages.
Although overall demand for high-quality paper mulberry bark appears to remainstrong, the nearly entire dependency on export markets (directly from Thailand andindirectly from demand in South Korea and Japan) makes paper mulberry production
systems vulnerable to changes in foreign demand and the introduction of alternative
fibres. To conclude, the future of paper mulberry value chains and their contribution torural livelihoods depends on a variety of domestic and external factors, but above all on
the political will of national decision-makers to rethink their controversial agricultural,
forest and rural development policies.

Acknowledgements
The financial support of the Centre for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of
Hohenheim, Stuttgart, the Eiselen Foundation Ulm and the Institute of Project Planning, Stuttgart,
for conducting the field research is gratefully acknowledged. Bernhard Mohns, team leader of423ῒΐῌ῍ῌῐ῏ ῐΐ῎ ῐ ῑRDMA, Bokeo, and his Laotian counterparts gave us invaluable logistic support during the fieldstudy in Pha Oudom district. The quality of the paper benefitted greatly from the constructive
comments of three anonymous referees.

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