The e-Newsletter of the Gender Network

August 2012 | Vol. 6, No. 2

Tourists and Night Markets bring income and hope to Lao PDR women
by Imrana Jalal*

Night markets and community-based tourism provides welcome opportunity At the Luang Namtha Night Market, in northern Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, crafts produced by Akha women, including silver jewelry, intricate embroidery, weaving and beading, are among the popular wares on sale. The Akha are an ancient people, originating in the Peoples Republic of China but now live throughout the northern parts of Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and PRCs Yunnan Province. For Akha women, jewelry is a symbol of status. Their weighty, colorful headdresses can announce a womans age or marital state depending on its style and the elaborateness of its decoration. Selling reproductions of Akha jewelry and other traditional handicrafts to tourists at the night market has opened a new world of opportunity for the tribes women, who also sell food and drinks. For one female student, selling food at the market is a way to continue her secondary school education. Her single mother prepares the food during the day; without the income from the night market, she and her siblings would be unable to go to school. Tourism can be tricky when mixed with tradition. As many communities in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have discovered, opening living history to outsiders can upset an ancient way of life, lead to exploitation, trafficking in antiquities, exposure to communicable diseases, and put pressure on scarce natural resources. But a project financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aiming to empower women to take advantage of opportunities, rather than be taken advantage of. In addition to opening new avenues for income, its bringing additional benefits in the area of nutrition and promoting harmony in the home. ADBs tourism projects in the GMS1 are promoting tourism opportunities for the poor and women. Since 2003 ADB has assisted ten provinces in the Lao PDR (Bokeo, Champassak,
* Senior Social Development Specialist (Gender) with support from Steven Schipani of ADBs Thailand Resident Mission and Karen Palmer of the Department of External Relations. A review mission of the projects Gender Action Plan (GAP) was conducted in 2011. 1 GMS Mekong Tourism Development Project (1969-CAM;1970-LAO;1971-VIE) and GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project (2457-VIE0117-LAO)

2 Houaphanh, Khammouane, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Saravanh, Savannakhet, Vientiane, and Xayaboury). The provinces were selected for their tourism potential, poverty rates, and inclusion in the GMS Tourism Sector Strategy. Between 1997 and 2007, international tourist arrivals to Lao PDR grew from 463,200 to 1.63 million, with the average length of stay estimated at seven days and the average daily expenditure at $53. However, tourisms benefits tended to center around only a few destinations usually Vientiane and Luang Prabang and did not trickle down to the rural poor, particularly women. The current GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project was designed to enhance the protection and conservation of natural, cultural and urban heritage assets of importance for tourism; increase tourisms contribution to poverty reduction by expanding community-based tourism; improve management of tourist attractions and hygiene standards in small to medium hospitality enterprises; and promote local private sector investment in small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises. This is being supported by improving tourism-related infrastructure, including better roads, water supply, drainage, waste water treatment, public toilets, lighting, small markets, food kiosks, tourist information centers and ticket booths. By providing easier access and better facilities, tourists can confidently be encouraged to venture beyond Lao PDRs main destinations. For many women, however, improving tourism opportunities provides an alternative source of income when poor harvests leave their households short of money, as happened in 2010-2011. When Akha women switched from farming to selling traditional handicrafts and jewelry, they earned between $7 and $15 a night more than what they could earn through agriculture. Selling at the Night Market has given the Akha and other ethnic women confidence, knowledge and status. Most vendors earn a steady income of around 50 million Kip ($4,000) per year, although some women can earn incomes as high as 8 million Kip ($1,000 per month) by selling Kao Soi noodle soup, the most popular food item sold in the market. Recently, Luang Namthas Akha women secured an order from the tourism office for 200 pieces of jewelry, which could lead to more regular orders and potentially higher incomes. This is vital, as many Akha women support up to 11 people in their households and this new income stream will go a long way towards meeting their everyday cash needs for school, health and other living expenses. One female vendor remarked: I want to continue selling my food products forever. Another woman conducts a brisk trade selling crepes, claiming to earn between $50 and $70 a night. Throughout the night, long queues in front of her movable kiosk attest to her products popularity. Skills training for community-based tourism In addition to the Luang Namtha Night Market, the GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project (STDP) also supports the development of community based tourism and home-based cottage industries. It capitalized on womens existing customary skills while expanded their opportunities and helping make their traditional products more commercial and marketable. By improving production techniques and design, providing basic marketing assistance, equipment, and organizing markets and trade shows, women saw their incomes increase substantially.

My life has improved so much as we are now eating better at home," said one female weaver from Ban Faen village. The project is also providing women with training in product design, marketing and business skills, as well as providing equipment, such as looms for weaving and kilns for pottery. Skills training is aimed at furthering womens opportunities to benefit from homestay opportunities, massage, basketry, textiles, honey making, palm sugar production and embroidery. In some cases, women also received their first batch of raw materials from the project. Within two months of completing the handicraft design training in Ban Nam Chang, handicraft producers (mostly women) reported approximately $2,000 in additional revenue from their new product lines. Two villages Ban Yor and Ban Faen were provided training and equipment, to help improve the quality of their textiles, pottery and baskets and to boost production efficiency. The 20 women who make up the weavers group in Ban Yor have generated about $9,500 in revenue for the first three-quarters 2011, while the pottery group (comprised of five men and five women in husband and wife teams) has generated about $3,000. Ban Faen also gained $2,000 in 2011 from the sale of bamboo baskets. Pottery sales have increased family incomes by around 30% and project training has boosted production and increased the confidence and skills of women and men. The pottery group works well because members value each others opinions. There is good male and female participation, with a female appointed as the groups vice-leader. Weaving not only brings in a good income (around 30% average increase since the project inception), it also preserves ethnic traditions and allows women to work around the seasonal farming schedule. All of the women interviewed said they wished to continue weaving because it can be done at home and continues a long cultural tradition. Weaving skills are being passed on from mother to daughter, helping to preserve ethnic identity, and is seen as a potential employment option for future generations. A female producer who sells sugar products in front of her home reportedly earns double the typical farm income. Project training has increased her knowledge and improved equipment has made the work easier. A sales center constructed by the project has facilitated increased marketing. The project is also providing training for tour guides and developing trekking tours in cooperation with the private sector. Generally, women are less inclined to participate in these activities since theyre reluctant to be away from home on treks that are more than one day. But women are not totally absent from these activities. In a few tourism sites, women comprise between 15-50% of trained tour guides. Five hundred site managers and operators have also been trained, of whom 41% are women. Many women benefiting from the project previously earned no incomes. At some tourism sites, women are obtaining a small but significant net income ($5 - $50 per day per household) from selling tickets for visits to nature sites, waterfalls and caves, as well as selling food, pottery, textiles, bamboo paper, palm sugar and other handicrafts. Some vendors operating small food stalls reported revenue of about 500,000 kip per day (about $62). Women report that extra funds are spent on electricity, water, food, education and school books.

4 "The projects complementary investments in appropriate infrastructure, equipment and training have helped to overcome many of the constraints that were limiting women's access to tourismrelated supply chains and significantly boosted family incomes, said Steven Schipani, the ADB specialist handling tourism in the GMS. Better gender design leads to better results for women A significant feature of the STDPs Gender Action Plan was to include the participation of women and ethnic groups in various training activities, tourism enterprises, community based tourism and tourism development committees. Halfway through the project implementation period, womens participation in these activities was around 41%. The Projects gender design also aimed to establish mechanisms to promote womens representation in decision-making processes. Female targets of 30%-50% were established for livelihoods and tourism-based enterprise training, capacity building, scholarships for master trainers and training for female project staff. Government officials and other community stakeholders were trained on gender issues and social risks related to tourism. Of the 393 tourism officials trained on community based tourism and supply chain skills, 175 (44%) were women. All gender focal points from the provincial tourism office were also involved in tourism planning and management training. A project team based in the Lao PDRs Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism facilitated and monitored womens involvement in project activities including project monitoring and evaluation and the collection of sex-disaggregated data. Overall, the project results are positive, with practical and strategic benefits for both male and female beneficiaries, including poor ethnic women. For example, most beneficiaries interviewed during a 2012 study reported an increase in income, leading to better housing, food, health and hygiene. Positive quality of life changes included improved knowledge, skills, status, confidence, decision-making ability, and more secure long-term local employment prospects. Changes in household relationships bring respect An impact study supported by the Gender and Development Cooperation Fund found that female beneficiaries noted an increased ability to set aside savings and pay for household expenses, school fees, and small treats for their families. Female and male beneficiaries reported feeling happier and prouder because earning additional income, confidently resolving conflicts, and enthusiastically boosting their incomes has given them more respect from family members.2 Now I get more respect, not only from my husband, but also from my daughters-in-law, said a female weaver from Ban Faen village, while sitting at the loom provided to her by the project. In some cases there have been strategic changes in gender relations at the household level as womens ability to earn an income allowed them more control over household resources, and more respect from their spouses and other household members.
2

ADB, June 2012, Ingrid Gray and Phanmaly Siliphong, Sharing Lessons to Promote Women-Owned Microenterprises in the Tourism Sector in Lao PDR RETA 6143-LAO, June 2012

In one case, a female vendor said that her status in the household had risen markedly as a result of her extra income, which paid for critical household expenses. Another much older woman said that not having to ask her sons for money gave her a kind of freedom she had not previously enjoyed. Some women now engaged in tourism activities said their involvement had led to increased workloads, while some women reported that other family members had assumed the bulk of domestic responsibilities. In one village, women did their weaving after the evening meal, often until midnight. The weavers said the longer work hours were worth it, given the extra independent income they now earned. Women said they felt they had commensurate benefits in terms of increased income, and that their lives had improved considerably. In some villages, all earnings go to individual women; in others a percentage is deposited into a communal village fund that the women are able to access. In some cases, women reported that they controlled the income earned either solely or jointly with their husbands. Many women now have more influence over how family income is spent.

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.