INTRODUCTION
In late spring, ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, I vividly remember taking my first step into public office. After completing military service, the first task given at the front-line site as a young man and a first-time public official was to foster 4-H with rural teenagers in their 20s. At that time along with the 4-H members, the Olympic torch relay road was created as a cosmos flower road. Also the 4-H outdoor training activities, such as camping, were held in forests and valleys in the middle of summer. A 4-H competition and fair festival was also held for rural youth to exhibit their projects’ accomplishments in the harvest season. By publishing the 4-H Bulletin every month containing these activities, I spent valuable time sharing my life with customers and members of 4-H who were the same age as me.
BACKGROUND
Lao PDR has been fortunate in having very few cases of COVID-19. Due to prompt action by the government there have been only 19 confirmed cases and no deaths by early May. Nevertheless, control measures have greatly impacted all sections of society due to loss of income and restricted access to goods. The lockdown that went into effect on 30th March is due to be lifted on 3rd May, thereby permitting greater movement and economic activity. Although many control measures will remain in place, border trade will depend on the decisions made by governments in neighbouring countries..
IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE
As in other countries, agribusiness in Laos has been affected in a number of distinctive ways. These include:
limited supply of some inputs;
reduced demand for agricultural produce; and
inability to transport produce.
The worst affected farmers have been those producing seasonal products that are highly perishable, specifically fruits and vegetables. The closure of restaurants and the collapse of the tourism industry have led to a severe reduction in demand, and there is a low capacity for processing and cold storage in the country. The Lao Farmer Network has reported a number of cases of farmers who have been feeding vegetables such as cabbages to livestock, or letting them rot in the fields due to lack of buyers.
Other commercial crops have been relatively unaffected because the lockdown did not come at the planting or harvesting time (e.g., maize, cassava) or because the produce can be locally processed and stored (e.g., coffee, tea). Peri-urban livestock producers have also been able to continue supplying local markets and, in some cases, may have benefitted from reduced competition from imported products.
The prospect for the rice crop looks good since most Lao farmers use their own seed and do not apply imported chemicals for this crop. A large portion of rural households produce rice for their own consumption and sell the surplus, so these families will be able to ensure their own food security. However, if farming families decide to keep more rice due to the uncertainty brought about by the crisis, there is a possibility that less will be available in the market for urban consumers. One reason this might happen is that tens of thousands of migrant workers have returned to their villages from neighboring countries, most notably Thailand, meaning that many rural households now have more mouths to feed.
INITIATIVES AIMED AT ADDRESSING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
The Lao Government has planned a number of measures to support affected businesses. According to the national media, the proposed measures include aid for labourers who have lost their jobs due to the outbreak, a reduction in water and electricity tariffs, and assistance to distribute goods across the country, and exports to international markets. At a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on 28th April, the leadership discussed support for agricultural development, aid for the tourism industry, and plans to address public debt and SME promotion.
The Lao National Economic Research Institute (NERI) has urged the government to use the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to promote the production of goods and services for domestic consumption. One of the key business sectors identified by the institute for government promotion was clean agriculture, adding that the country had plenty of fertile land and a majority of the population had well-established traditions in agriculture. The recommendations made by NERI, if implemented, would represent a policy shift towards greater self-sufficiency and food sovereignty, in contrast to the export-driven growth of recent years. However, the ASEAN Ministers for Agriculture agreed to “Minimize disruptions in regional food supply chains” when they held an online meeting on 15th April.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSION AND ADVISORY SERVICES
Most of the agricultural extension activities in Laos were halted during the period of lockdown. The fact that this came at a time when the country celebrates Lao New Year (Pi Mai Lao) meant that government staff, businesses and farmers would normally have taken some holiday during this period; thus the impact of the lockdown was less than if it had occurred at another time of the year. Nevertheless, communication among stakeholders was maintained during the lockdown using various channels, especially social media apps. For example:
Training on control of Coffee Berry Borer took place using the Line app, with an expert from Chiang Mai University teaching field workers in the remote province of Xieng Khouang.
Members of the Lao Farmer Network were able to make videos and upload them to YouTube, explaining the impact of the lockdown to policy makers.
The Sub-Sector Working Group for Farmers and Agribusiness continued to send daily updates to more than 4,000 people through the Lao-FAB Google Group.
Projects, such as the Lao Upland Rural Advisory Service (LURAS), have created many WhatsApp groups for specific topics such as Young Agripreneurs, Control of Fall Armyworm, Coffee Processing and Marketing, and Project Admin and Finance.
The experience of the LURAS project demonstrates the potential of providing services to the next generation of farmers using smart phone technology. Until now, this kind of information service has developed rather slowly in Laos, but it seems likely to accelerate in the months ahead due to reduced opportunities for face-to-face meetings. A mistake that has been made in the past is to assume that the internet is primarily a channel for delivering information, when its greatest value for RAS may be as a means for interaction among people who are physically separated. Projects, like LURAS, will need to invest more time into e-facilitation, rather than just developing content for dissemination.
The internet also has an important role in distribution and marketing of agricultural inputs and products. The lockdown in Laos, as elsewhere, has been accompanied by a rapid growth in the use of food delivery services, with motorcycle riders in competing green, blue, and pink jackets becoming a common sight in the half-empty streets of the capital, Vientiane. Less obvious is the fact that logistics companies have continued to provide supplies from China to businesses in Laos, including SMEs in the food processing and retail sector that have made online orders using platforms such as Alibaba. Undoubtedly, COVID-19 is speeding up the development of e-commerce in the agriculture and food sector, and organisations providing advisory services in these sectors need to rapidly acquire more expertise in this area.
FINAL WORDS
The COVID-19 pandemic is still going on and the precise nature of future impacts is impossible to predict. Governments, donors, NGOs, and farmers themselves must remain alert and responsive if we are to collectively prevent this health crisis from becoming a longer-term socio-economic disaster.
