In Lao PDR’s Nam Ngum River Basin, women from ethnic households have begun to play major roles in managing water resources. As caretakers of both home and environment, the women from villages in Nam Ngum have been tapped and trained in sub-basin planning and land-use planning processes. They have also gained access to finance, jobs, livelihood opportunities, and land ownership.
ADB and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launched a project in Lao, People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) in 2016 which demonstrated how livelihood for women can be integrated into a water resources management project. The Nam Ngum River Basin Development Sector Project 1 aimed to reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic growth through integrated water resources management.
Over 36,000 people live in four provinces, 10 districts, and 50 villages in the Nam Ngum River Basin, and more than half are women from ethnic households. Many of these women do not get paid enough for their agriculture-based labor, do not have other alternative sources of income, and do not have access to basic services, such as water and sanitation.
Interventions
The project tackled these concerns by providing key interventions that increased women’s participation. These include providing them training and workshops on gender-related issues, sub-basin planning, and land-use planning processes.
Beyond the workshops, the project empowered women financially, too, by providing them access to credit that jumpstarted their own enterprises. About 84% of borrowers were women, and most of them used their loans for agriculture production, livestock raising and other income generating activities such as handicrafts.
Results
For the project, taking care of natural resources also means taking care of the people, especially the marginalized, like the many multicultural women in Lao PDR. It directly addressed the concerns of the poor, including food security, sustainability of livelihoods, and access to productive resources. It particularly benefited women because a sound gender action plan was woven into the project.
The project improved women’s access to finance, jobs, and livelihood opportunities. It even enabled women to gain land ownership as all land titles released during project implementation were issued jointly to husband and wife or solely to the women.
Moreover, it has helped reduce the proportion of the population under the poverty line, from 45% in 2010 to just under 40% in 2014. Household incomes increased by about 20% from 2012 levels, with per capita income going up from $1.96 in 2012 to $2.35 in 2015.