Concomitant agricultural intensification improved dietary energy supply, reduced the prevalence of undernourishment, and increased agricultural exports. In biophysical terms, the stabilization of shifting cultivation enhanced the recovery of some forest areas resulting in gross carbon sequestration while ecosystems in total remained a net source of emissions. We find that policy documents use both socio-economic and environmental arguments to substantiate land sparing at the expense of shifting cultivation. We quantify ecosystem carbon fluxes and agricultural emissions and investigate trends in agricultural production and food security. Applying an interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach, we examine how Lao land-use policies legitimize land sparing at the cost of shifting cultivation and how land use changed between 20. To contribute to this debate, we analyze the discursive dimension of land sparing efforts and their biophysical implications for Lao PDR. Land sparing policies aim at reconciling this conundrum by intensifying agriculture while conserving forests, but scientific debates prevail about their effectiveness. Land-use competition between forest conservation and agricultural food production poses major threats to climate change mitigation and food security. Moreover, rural livelihoods have become increasingly diversified as the economy of the region develops and opportunities for off-farm and non-farm employment increase. However, the cultivated area and especially the yield of both rainfed and irrigated rice have been increasing, contributing to the achievement of rice self-sufficiency at the national level. Rice production is dominated by the rainfed lowland system and is still predominantly for subsistence production of glutinous rice, with only a small proportion marketed and even less exported. These farming systems have been undergoing a transition from subsistence-based to market-oriented production. Nevertheless, as in the region as a whole, there has been a remarkable transformation of rice-based farming systems and supply chains over recent decades. Moreover, Laos has suffered the most from variability in production due to the high incidence of droughts and floods. Rice farming in Laos is the least commercialised within the Lower Mekong.
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