Students from the Thammasat University visit IWMI office in Laos

April 8, 2019

Undergraduates from the Puay Ungpakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand recently visited the IWMI office in Vientiane, Laos to learn more about IWMI’s research on agrarian transformation in South East Asia. IWMI’s Diana Suhardiman facilitated the event and Oulavanh Keovilignavong conducted the lecture moderated by Soimart Rungmanee (Lecturer from Thammasat University).

Highlighting the importance of social inclusion in large-scale infrastructure development, the lecture presented the latter as one of the key drivers shaping processes of agrarian transformation in Laos. Taking the China-Lao-Thai railway project as a case study, it illustrates farm households’ diverse strategies to cope with the ongoing contemporary struggles to sustain and improve livelihoods, while transitioning from on-farm to non-farm activities. The university expressed their interest in conducting annual visits with the possibility of extending the day to a field visit for students to get hands-on experience.

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