Rice, labor, and children: A study of peasants’ livelihood strategies in Northeast Thailand

Abstract

This chapter focuses on how rural households respond to resource constraints worsened by rapid population growth in Northeast Thailand. It examines two major aspects of peasants’ responses- production and fertility. The former includes all kinds of strategies that peasant households employ for gaining livelihood. The latter includes only one aspect of fertility, namely, the demand for children. Agricultural response is a process by which the farmer uses available agricultural technology to grow or produce agricultural products within the constraints of the natural environment, socioeconomic conditions, and other available resources. Generally, peasants in Nang Rong district are small-scale producers who subsist mainly on farming activities plus some degree of non-agricultural production activities. In Nang Rong district, rice growing is the most common practice. The chapter expresses that the movement of labor from agricultural to other modes of production should be viewed as an overall labor allocation strategy of individual households. © 1992 Taylor and Francis. All rights reserved.