메콩강 유역 농촌 지역의 녹색 경제 구현:라오스·캄보디아를 중심으로

Abstract

이 연구는 경제인문사회연구회 녹색성장협동연구 세부과제인 「글로벌 녹색경제 확산 및 협력체계구축」의 일환으로 주관연구기관인 한국환경정책평가원과 우리 연구원이 협동으로 추진한 것이다. 이 연구에서는 농업·농촌 분야에서 우리나라가 경험한 녹색성장전략을 개발도상국에 확대 적용하기 위한 방안을 모색하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 라오스, 캄보디아를 선정하여, 라오스에서는 화전 농업 지역의 지속가능 발전 전략을, 캄보디아에서는 관개 시스템의 구축과 수자원 이용 전략을 모색하였다.

This paper aims to suggest a sustainable strategy for the development of the rural areas of Lao PDR and Cambodia. To this end, authors conducted literature review on each country's current status of development, visited the fields to observe the residents' daily lives and reality, and commissioned writings to local experts. For Lao PDR, while some areas'(especially around Mekong River Valley) poverty level dropped dramatically compared to 1990s, areas neighbouring Vietnam have still been suffering from lingering level of poverty rate due to, in part, the harsh environment for cultivation and agricultural trade, and under-developed infrastructure. Even though its policy-makers seemed to understand the significances of high poverty rate and low agricultural productivity, the concern for the unbalanced investment on rural areas is another issue. For Cambodia, agriculture sector still plays one of the most important roles for its economy and almost 80 percent of its population lives in rural areas. While rice productivity and the landmass for cultivation increased, Cambodia's insufficient infrastructure for milling continues to undermine its endeavor for agricultural development. In addition, lack of market access adds to the hardship of farmers living under poverty. Under these circumstances, the two countries' strategy for sustainable development needs to be aligned with their respective socio-economic environment. For Lao PDR, its policy on land and cultivation method was one of its the core efforts to eradicate poverty and maintain its economic sustainability. Especially the purpose of its efforts to curb shifting cultivation was to lessen uncertainty on its governance of regional population, and protect national forestry and natural resources. While the pressure for shifting cultivation was higher as several contributing factors coincides, government's measures including the encouragement for cash-crop and resettlement plans have been administered through provincial and regional offices. In the case of Cambodia, although its land size and productivity for agriculture increased, still the ratio of multiple cropping stayed low considering its agriculturally favorable environment. In this sense, the need for restructuring of water resource management system in this nation was urgently needed if the country wanted to enhance the efficiency of its agriculture sector significantly and maintain desirable balance sheet. As majority of Cambodian irrigation system had been built during the Pol Pot regime and known for faulty design, it has not been environment-friendly nor cost-efficient. While the government has been trying to streamline water management system and handed over some of its responsibility to local residents, the extent of the marginal productivity of irrigation system was not unquestionable, and its environmental effects need to be scrutinized more extensively. Factors that influence a region vary according to its socio-geographical context as we could witness in the cases of Lao PDR and Cambodia. Traditional cultivating method combined with market economy seemed to have potential for securing sustainability and profitability when administered contextually. It also implies that small scale but locally-oriented projects like livestock production support on village-level could prove more cost-efficient and satisfactory for village people than assumed in the past. Giving more responsibility to local people in designing irrigation management system at regional level would be another example. To sum up the lessons learned, if an entity would want to earn a tangible outcome from an international cooperation project, it would be better to find a way to link an investment with a mechanism for the eradication of poverty and environmental sustainability, not just a human resource training program or unproven large scale construction projects. In doing this, respecting traditional methods and considering regional context would possibly guarantee more suitability for a development project.

Researchers: Si Hyun Park, Jang Heo, Yong-Woog Choi Research period: 2013. 5. - 2013. 10. E-mail address: shpark@krei.re.kr