With around 7.4 million inhabitants, Laos is relatively sparsely populated. Over 70% of Laotians depend directly or indirectly on agriculture and forestry for their living. To drive forward the country’s development, the Lao Government is investing in agriculture and forestry, mining, and hydropower. Until now, the rural population has derived limited benefit from this practice and is often not familiar with the legal frameworks governing land, nor the relevant institutions and processes that ensure their land rights.

Laos plans to graduate from least developed country status by 2024. To spur economic growth, the Lao government builds on a resource-based export economy, major mining projects, the constructions of dams, and the expansion of plantation agriculture. A key focus is the promotion of foreign direct investment in agriculture and forestry, to promote technology transfer for intensification of the agricultural sector and thus employment and income for the rural population. However, agriculture and forestry investment projects are placing growing pressure on land as a resource.

The Global Programme Responsible Land Policy (GPRLP), launched in November 2015, is based on the assumption that secure land rights can

➊ improve food security and foster investment,
➋ lead to sustainable land use,
➌ reduce conflicts and
➍ improve women’s access to land as well as that of marginalized groups.

The Global Programme 'Responsible Land Policy' (GPRLP) is part of the Special Initiative 'One World, No Hunger' of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.

The “Responsible Governance of Investments in Land” (RGIL) project in Lao PDR fosters investment quality promotion to ensure that agriculture and forestry investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management and respect the rights and needs of local populations.