"This land is our life. If we can't farm, it won't be easy for us to keep living."
This is the heart-breaking truth spoken by a Pa-O woman farmer in Hsihseng township in southern Shan State. For rural communities in regions inhabited by the Pa-O ethnic group, "land" is not a raw material for making a living. Rather, it is the "lifeline" that sustains their livelihoods, their children's education, their social relations, and the traditions and customs passed down by their ancestors. This commentary spotlights the struggles for survival and genuine aspirations of Pa-O farmers in Hopong and Hsihseng townships in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone. Farmers in these territories have had to contend with a “four-way” pressure since the early 1990s: land confiscations, soaring agricultural costs, multiple taxes and conscription pressures from various governing bodies, and socio-economic impacts and climate change.
In the early 1990s, the Myanmar Army, the local People's Militia Force (originally a ceasefire group known as the Pa-O National Organisation [PNO]), and associated administrative organisations began confiscating farmland and village land belonging to local communities in Hsihseng and Hopong townships. Most of the land was confiscated during 1991-92 for a military base, urban expansion and other strategic reasons. Most of the villagers did not hold official land ownership documents. In rights and in history, the land was a traditional ancestral heritage under customary tenure systems regulated by village committees.
Through these actions, more than 18,000 acres of land previously under customary control was seized in total under various pretexts and justifications – an enormous area about the size of Beijing International Airport and Bangkok International Airport combined. For the local villagers, this sparked an enduring cascade of material and social losses so great that it has totally reshaped their lives and continues until the present day.
This commentary is based on recent interviews with 12 farmers and agricultural workers in Hopong and Hsihseng townships, as well as some in nearby Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State. | 
