What started as a debate about a hydroelectric dam has become a high profile dispute over the future of food security in the Mekong region. The controversial Xayaburi Dam in Laos has resulted in increasing political tensions and a crackdown on civil society, culminating in the disappearance of a Lao activist in December.
Over 60 million people living in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam depend on the Mekong River. It is the world’s largest inland fishery and the second most biodiverse river, behind only the Amazon. The river’s fish are the main source of protein for millions of people. The river also nourishes some of the region’s most productive agricultural fields. Tourists flock to the Mekong River from across the world, contributing to all four countries’ economies.
Now Laos wants to build nine hydropower dams on the river and sell the electricity to neighboring countries. With the help of Thailand, Laos has already started construction on the first project, called the Xayaburi Dam. The problem is that the dams in Laos will cause significant harm to countries downstream. This puts Laos’ neighbors in a difficult situation. Scientists have concluded that if the dams are built, the food security of millions of people in all four countries will be threatened.
The costs of damming the Mekong
The stakes are high. As one of Asia’s poorest countries, Laos sees the dams as an opportunity to earn much needed revenue. For the project developers, the Xayaburi Dam provides a cash windfall. Yet leading scientific studies have found that many of the dams’ costs will be borne by other governments and people living downstream, rather than the dam developers themselves.
The dams will block fish migrations, leading to drastic declines in Cambodia’s fisheries industry. They will also reduce the flow of nutrients downstream to rice paddies and agricultural fields in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Many of the region’s poorest villagers who live along the riverbanks will lose their farmland and the fish that provide their main source of protein. Scientists have found no viable measures to mitigate the harm or replace lost food security.
Click here to read the full story.
