State of Land in the Mekong Region

The Mekong region is in the midst of profound social and environmental change. Despite rapid urbanization, the region remains predominantly rural with more than 60 percent of its population living in rural areas, the vast majority of whom are engaged in agriculture. This population not only continues to grow, but is also disproportionately poor and reliant on land and forest resources. Due to the rapid growth of its agricultural sector, the Mekong region has become a global centre of production and trade for commodities such as rubber, rice, cassava, wood, sugar cane and oil palm. While accelerated flows of global investment and the trade of land-intensive commodities have contributed to growing GDP and the enrichment of some societal actors, outcomes have been highly unequal. The benefits of development have largely accrued to the urban elite, while costs have largely been borne by the rural poor, transforming rural land relations and presenting new insecurities for land tenure. The Mekong region may be at a tipping-point, and transformational change is imperative to sustainably address the needs of agricultural smallholders. Data and information are urgently needed to understand these changes, to inform more equitable and innovative decision-making, and to monitor the outcomes of these decisions. The State of Land in the Mekong Region thus brings together key data and information on current status and trajectories of change with regard to land resources, their social distribution, and the conditions of governance that shape them.1s