Towards just and sustainable land allocation for Southeast Asia’s farmers displaced by climate change

 

In Southeast Asia, the climate crisis poses unique risks to the 6.9 million farmers in the region. The Mekong Delta is losing agricultural land every year due to climate-related events, and this raises critical questions about just land reallocation for farmers. Importantly, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia are also at a unique stage in framing their land policies, which are defined by historical conflicts, contested land claims, economic growth opportunities and an interplay of social identities.

This project presents a just and sustainable land allocation framework for farmers in the Mekong region affected by climate-crisis-induced displacement. In particular, the project focuses on strengthening community voices in governance of displacement and land reallocation in the region. Through six case studies from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, the project captures the links between community participation in just land reallocation in the region. The six case studies will cover a range of climate-crisis-induced changes, which include flooding, salination, drought and sea-level increase.

The comparative approach is driven by the severity of the rate of onset of these changes, which in turn affects community participation in the policy response to these climate-crisis risks. Further, the vulnerability framework allows the research design to capture intersectional risks faced by women farmers, Indigenous communities and other marginalized farming groups. Using comparative case studies and participatory methods, this project identifies opportunities to strengthen community voices and builds applicable knowledge towards community participation in just land reallocation. In each country, civil society members will be part of the project from the beginning as research team members, to ensure research design and implementation responds to needs and knowledge gaps relevant to affected communities.