| Author | Vorn Vichheka |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-09-07 |
| Subject(s) | Land use--Cambodia--Ratanakiri
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| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-09-07 |
| Abstract | Land use change refers to the activities that people undertake on land to produce the change or to maintain it. Land use change and its impacts on rural livelihood in Ratanakiri Province of Cambodia was conducted to look at the effects of land modification on rural households. The study was conducted in four villages which were randomly selected from the three communes of Ou Chum District, Ratanakiri Province located in the northeast part of Cambodia. Two selected villages represented as Case I settled for relatively longer time and the other two selected villages presented as case II as newly settled. To gather the information, quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed.73 sampled households were surveyed by administering structured questionnaire. Additionally, group discussion and semi-structured interviews of the key informants were conducted to acquire the qualitative information and to verify the information. The research found that majority of land resource in Ou Chum district has been modified from shifting agriculture to perennial crop and mono-crop. Market demand, receiving seed from neighbor, commodity price, land price, demand for food consumption, institutional and administrative support and knowledge were the main factors influencing land use change. Land use change generated an extended income for the rural households. The income derived from land use change in 2008 was two times higher compared to that of 2002. Almost all households in Ou Chum district increased their land parcel by clear cutting the forest to enlarge shifting fields and later on converted the fields to perennial crops. Land which occupied by medium and large scale agriculture was converted from shifting agriculture to mono-crop. Land use change has affected positively on financial, physical and social assets. However, the change of land use impacts negatively on natural and human assets. Particularly, land fragmentation appears to be significantly worse in Ou Chum district due to limited access to extend agricultural land in forest area, land encroachment from the outsider and limited access to land parcel by the new family/households from the community. The change of land use provided a very limited extent to the rural livelihood due to difference in the institutional supports such as land use policy and agricultural policy supports, credit, training and technical support, raw material and market support. There were several key challenges which impoverish to the rural livelihood due to the lack of capital, in access to credit, lack of marketing support, inadequate technical and training supports and lack of policy support. Recommendations are made for rural land use and livelihood improvement such as land use policy support and forestry community establishment, training and technical skill supports, strengthen rural livelihood and people participation. These recommendations are very important for national policies development and some program concerning the rural livelihood improvement. |
| Year | 2009 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-09-07 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shrestha, Rajendra P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh;Ranamukhaarachchi, S. L.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2009 |