Coffee, unlike rice, is an export commodity in Lao PDR—the country’s fifth largest export earner—whose production is concentrated in the Bolaven Plateau region. About four-fifths of coffee is grown in the Pakxong district of Champasak province, while the remaining one-fifth is grown mainly in the provinces of Salavan and Xekong.14 Coffee production in Lao PDR doubled over the past decade (Figure 4.1). The land area used to grow coffee expanded from about 29,402 ha in 2000 to more than 45,000 ha by 2009. According to the Lao PDR government, an estimated 210,000 people are involved in coffee production.