In the Mekong region, the majority of people living in poverty depend on land and natural resources for their survival but lack secure rights to it. This insecurity of tenure serves as a disincentive to invest in the land and leaves communities exposed to land expropriation by the state and commercial interests, as well as powerful individual actors. Government grants of land concessions to investors, land speculation, forest exploitation and internal migration all impact rural communities’ access to land and resources vital to their livelihoods. As communities often occupy land granted to investors, widespread dispossession can result in violent conflicts.
