The primary objective of this research project "Knowledge for Development: Creating Rural Resource Database for Sustainable Livelihoods in Cambodia and Laos (SURVEY)" is to provide basic data on rural resources and livelihood strategies in Cambodia and Laos that would support climate sensitive and sustainable natural resource policies and improved development assistance for poverty reduction. The core of this research attempt is the survey, which consists of 4000 household and village headmen interviews conducted mainly in the rural areas of Cambodia and Laos.
The survey consists of questions on the use of natural resources for livelihood (agricultural, forest, water, and energy); human resources (education, skills, division of labour, migration potential to urban areas); local institutions (decision-making, ownership and use rights of the natural resources); means to cope with unexpected constrains such as illness or crop failure; abilities and potential for livelihood diversification, including e.g. energy crop plantations. Besides survey questions, also open questions are made for villagers and village headmen in order to further elaborate livelihood issues. The data will be mostly collected by Indochina Research Ltd, which is an experienced regional research company.
The data is gathered to databases which are used for analysing the sustainability of rural livelihood in Cambodia and Laos, as well as the patterns and causalities between food security/climate change issues and rural resources base. Equally importantly the databases and the statistics provide long-term support in formulation of development assistance programmes and national policymaking.
The Project is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland during the years 2009-2010.
Further information:
Juha-Pekka Snäkin, Team Leader, Senior Researcher
juha-pekka.snakin(a)tse.fi
Hanna Kaisti, Project Manager
hanna.kaisti(a)tse.fi
Jenny Turunen, Researcher
jenny.turunen(a)tse.fi
> Finland Futures Research Centre