Changing Rural Livelihoods in South-east Asia: Constraints and Opportunities Mokbul Morshed Ahmad, PhD. Associate Professor Regional and Rural Development Planning School of Environment, Resources and Development Asian Institute of Technology Thailand

Outline Poverty and Inequality Food Security Human Capital: Education Gender and Human development Globalization and its effects on the livelihoods Changes brought by ICT Vulnerability from Climate Change

Poverty in Southeast Asia Source: Asian development Bank,2017

Poverty The largest reductions in poverty have been for those countries – Thailand, Malaysia and Viet Nam accomplishing the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Poverty incidence among ethnic minorities is the highest in the country and pace of poverty reduction slowest.

Inequality of income in South East Asia countries

Inequality of income distribution in Thailand Bangkok has the highest inequality rate while the least poverty in Thailand

Food Security Majority of the countries still have more than one quarter of their children undernourished In Indonesia each 10% increase in rice price is found to reduce the spending power of the poorest tenth of the population by 2 per cent. Accurate and timely information concerning supplies of rice and other food commodities plays a vital role in ensuring food security in the region.

Global Food Security Index (GFSI)

Nutrition, Diversification….Rice GFSI, 2017 1) AFFORDABILITY 2) AVAILABILITY 3) QUALITY AND SAFETY Rank Score / 100 Δ 1 Singapore 91.3 +0.1 Japan 67.3 +0.6 Australia 81.9 0.0 2 83.8 67.1 -0.7 New Zealand 77.1 3 80.9 +0.5 66.8 -1.6 76.1 4 79.2 65.4 -1.4 South Korea 75.8 -0.3 5 71.2 -0.8 60.4 -1.1 73.1 6 Malaysia 68.1 -0.4 54.2 -3.5 =6 China 7 Kazakhstan 65.5 -1.7 51.3 -1.8 8 Thailand 64.3 +2.3 India 48.7 -2.1 55.0 9 63.6 +0.9 Indonesia 47.2 -0.2 Vietnam 52.4 10 Azerbaijan 61.1 -2.0 47.1 +1.4 =10 51.8 11 55.3 Sri Lanka 46.4 -5.1 Myanmar 12 54.8 +3.0 45.8 -1.3 Philippines 51.2 13 50.8 45.7 -2.6 48.2 +2.0 14 Uzbekistan 45.5 45.2 47.8 15 Pakistan 43.6 +0.8 44.6 Nepal 46.2 16 Cambodia 43.2 43.9 -1.0 43.8 17 42.1 Bangladesh +0.2 43.1 18 41.1 -0.9 41.8 -1.2 41.0 19 37.6 +1.2 41.6 40.1 20 34.6 39.1 -0.1 Tajikistan 36.6 21 30.8 +1.9 37.0 +1.7 32.7 +1.8 22 28.2 35.7 32.5 23 Laos 25.6 34.9 29.1 http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Country Nutrition, Diversification….Rice

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Education Overall quality of education in rural areas is generally poor. Drop-out rate for children and youth leaving the education system after the primary school level is very high Many school leavers fail to acquire adequate literacy or vocational/livelihood skills.

Education (contd.) Net enrolment rate in secondary level in every country has increased especially in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Myanmar and the increment is over 10%. Net enrolment rate in secondary level is still low compared to primary school except in Malaysia and Thailand.

[ Inequality between Urban and Rural areas ] Educational inequality in Thailand ・Tuition fee(Until graduate from high school ) : free ・The other charge(uniform, stationary etc…) : free ※These expenses and textbook fee will be paid at a fixed amount for the number of students from the state to the school. The budget of large-scale schools ⇨ Large These large schools are concentrated in urban area such as Bangkok…. In the rural areas, they have a problem of accessibility to the school The percentage of students go to university ⇨ Urban : Rural = 7:3 一人当たりで予算が配分される [ Inequality between Urban and Rural areas ] A Study of community and school education in northeastern Thailand, Chiaki YAMASHIRO et.al. 　http://reposit.lib.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/bitstream/2298/35847/3/KKK0065_091-103.pdf

What Causes educational inequality? Thailand Japan Regional difference ①Expenditure on education out of 　 　school ② Academic expectation of parents ③Household income In Thailand, both the improvement of infrastructure in the rural areas and improving the education system including budget is needed. 開発における教育は、援助分野において最も注目されている分野で もある。子どもたちが適切な教育を受けることが、困難から脱出する 最適な方法の一つであり、将来の選択肢を広げる機会を提供する 今日、途上国においては、教育の拡大と普遍化が大きな課題の一つ である。ほとんどの途上国において、教育、特に基礎教育は、社会に とって貧困撲滅の鍵であると同時に、グローバル社会に対する適応能 力が確保されるものと理解されている。また、人々にとっても、生活 をレベルアップさせるための重要な要因として教育が受け入れられて いる。

Girl’s Education Without education, women enter a vicious circle marked by Fewer opportunities for employment Early marriage Poor child health care Limited knowledge of contraceptive use, and fertility.

Changes brought by ICT Technology is trying to bring the society closer together but the result is fragmentation of the society as the inequality becomes visible. Digital divide further creates an environment of competition for more and specialized skilled personnel thus affecting the unskilled rural people.

Vulnerability from Climate Change Climate change causes many disasters The worst affected group is the farmers Shortage of land areas for agriculture due to increased aridity and associated salinity, groundwater depletion and the rise of sea level

Mekong River Delta 1.77 million ha of land will be salinized, accounting for 45 percent of the land. Rise in sea level will increase salinity of main tributaries of Mekong as far inland as 10 km