Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of Northern Lao PDR

This paper provides a detailed description of the Lao-German Program on Integrated Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of Northern Lao PDR (RDMA).RDMA supports people in northern Laos to make sustainable and effective improvements in their living conditions and resources by promoting rural development. It also supports institutions and groups that assume the responsibility of fostering regional development. RDMA fosters sustainable natural resource management, expansion of the local economy, and capacity building by establishing village organizations and social services. RDMA aims to reduce poverty and achieve structural improvements through coordinated measures in rural infrastructure, health, education and planning. It supports:

• Operations in more than 300 villages in districts structurally afflicted with poverty and food insecurity;
• Improved participatory land use planning activities in target provinces;
• Development of integrated and market-oriented farming systems;
• Infrastructure improvements that increase agricultural production;
• Trade network meetings which provide information and improve linkages;
• Establishment of village banks to develop microfinance schemes at the grassroots level.