Laos Highland Coffee Farmers Ride Tourism Wave

Coffee grower Boua Thong, 47, has been growing Arabica beans for almost a decade in the mountains of Laos' Luang Prabang province. He made the move from rice farming, he said, as the government prohibited "slash and burn" techniques they say are harmful to forested areas. Thong said his 800 coffee plants on his half-a-hectare hillside plot, bring in more money than rice and offer a longer term crop that can produce for decades. "I only have a small piece of land, but...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - mardi 12 juillet 2016