Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
A3 printed atlas (120 pages) collecting the most important maps, associated tables and derived charts extracted from the Digital Agricultural Atlas of the Union of Myanmar.
The Atlas contains general datasets from international data providers and agricultural-related datasets generated from 2001-2002 statistics at State/Division and District level. Main maps are displayed at 1:6 000 000 scale while other ancillary maps are displayed around 1:12 000 000 scale.
The atlas aims to act as reference and guide to those wishing to understand more clearly the opportunities and challenges facing the agricultural sector in Myanmar.
Next is a selection of pages from the atlas. Click on the picture to open the full size (pdf, A3) file.
Source/publisher:
Digital Agriculture Atlas
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-25
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Agriculture in Burma (officially Myanmar) is the main industry in the country, accounting for about 60 percent of the GDP and employing some 65 percent of the labor force. Burma was once Asia?s largest exporter of rice, and it is remains the country?s most crucial agricultural commodity. Other main crops include pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane, lumber, and fish. Moreover, livestock is raised as both a source of food and labor.
Source/publisher:
Wikipedia
Date of entry/update:
2012-08-20
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
''The Agriculture sector encompasses Crop production, Livestock breeding, Fisheries and Agro-Forestry. It contributes 32% of the GDP, 17.5% of the total export earnings and employs 61.2% of the labour force (FAO 2009-2010). As such it is the main source of livelihood and income for the majority of the population in Myanmar. This page contains information on all aspects of agriculture including Fisheries, Livestock breeding and Forestry/Agro-Forestry, including needs and activities across Myanmar. The aim of this page is to provide actors across the sector with information that will enable greater coordination, transparency, and efficiency of operations in agriculture. Information on this page includes situation updates and analysis, information on inter-agency coordination and activities under implementation, relevant thematic maps and publications, and also key technical guidelines and resources related to this sector...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
Date of publication:
1970-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-07
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Research, policy, analysis - 31 files.....To access some files, users may have to take out a (free) subscription to MYLAFF at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mylaff
Source/publisher:
MYLAFF
Date of entry/update:
2016-06-08
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The Agriculture sector encompasses Crop production, Livestock breeding, Fisheries and Agro-Forestry. It contributes 32% of the GDP, 17.5% of the total export earnings and employs 61.2% of the labour force (FAO 2009-2010). As such it is the main source of livelihood and income for the majority of the population in Myanmar. This page contains information on all aspects of agriculture including Fisheries, Livestock breeding and Forestry/Agro-Forestry, including needs and activities across Myanmar. The aim of this page is to provide actors across the sector with information that will enable greater coordination, transparency, and efficiency of operations in agriculture. Information on this page includes situation updates and analysis, information on inter-agency coordination and activities under implementation, relevant thematic maps and publications, and also key technical guidelines and resources related to this sector."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
Date of entry/update:
2015-09-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Biotechnology Country Profiles, FAO-BioDeC (Biotechnologies in Developing Countries), Maps,Reports and Statistical Data and some publications from FAO
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-02
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Agroecology & Sustainable Agriculture - 5 files...
Conservation Agriculture (DMC/SCV) - 2 files ...
Fisheries - 2 files...
Irrigation Management - 1 file...
Organic Farming - 1 file...
Pest Management - 0 files...
Shifting Cultivation - 23 files ...
Small Holder Plantations - 8 files...
System of Rice Intensification (SRI).....To access some files, users may have to take out a (free) subscription to MYLAFF at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mylaff
Source/publisher:
MYLAFF
Date of entry/update:
2016-06-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Shifting ("swidden", "jhum", "taungya") cultivation - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
Lists back to 2005
Source/publisher:
Lift fund, partners etc.
Date of entry/update:
2016-08-01
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
ဤစာမျက်နှာတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတလွှားရှိ စိုက်ပျိုးရေး၊ အသက်မွေး ဝမ်းကြောင်းလုပ်ငန်းများ နှင့် စားနပ် ရက္ခာဖူလုံရေး လိုအပ်ချက်များနှင့် လုပ်ငန်းများ၏ သွင်ပြင် လက္ခာများနှင့် ပတ်သက်သည့် သတင်း အချက်အလက်များ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။ ဤစာမျက်နှာ၏ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်မှာ အဆိုပါ ကဏ္ဍများတွင် ပါဝင် ဆောင်ရွက် နေကြသော သူများကို သတင်း အချက်အလက်များ ပံ့ပိုးပေးရန်ဖြစ်သည်။ ဤသို့ ပံ့ပိုးပေးခြင်းဖြင့် စိုက်ပျိုးရေး၊ အသက်မွေး ဝမ်းကြောင်းလုပ်ငန်း များ နှင့် စားနပ် ရိက္ခာ ဖူလုံရေးတို့တွင် လုပ်ငန်းများ လုပ်ကိုင် ဆောင်ရွက်ရာ၌ ပိုမို၍ ညှိနှိုင်း ဆောင်ရွက်မှု၊ ပွင့်လင်း မြင်သာမှုနှင့် စွမ်းရည် ပြည့်ဝမှုတို့ ရှိလာစေမည် ဖြစ်သည်။ ဤစာမျက်နှာရှိ သတင်း အချက်အလက်များတွင် နောက်ဆုံး ရရှိသော အခြေအနေများနှင့် သုံးသပ်ချက်များ၊ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ အချင်းချင်းကြား ညှိနှိုင်း ဆွေးနွေးမှုများနှင့် အကောင်အထည် ဖော်နေသောလုပ်ငန်းများ၊ သက်ဆိုင်ရာ အကြောင်းအရာများကို ဖော်ပြသည့် မြေပုံများနှင့် ထုတ်ဝေမှုများ၊ အဆိုပါ ကဏ္ဍများနှင့် ပတ်သက်သည့် အဓိက နည်းပညာဆိုင်ရာ လမ်းညွှန်ချက်များနှင့် အရင်းအမြစ်များ လည်း ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
Source/publisher:
MIMU
Date of entry/update:
2015-09-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Individual Documents
Summary:
"The present Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks to mobilize assistance for close to 945,000 people in 2021, in support of the efforts of the Government of Myanmar to aid those affected by...
Description:
"The present Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks to mobilize assistance for close to 945,000 people in 2021, in support of the efforts of the Government of Myanmar to aid those affected by humanitarian crises and challenges in different parts of the country. As has been the case for previous years, the HRP places protection at the centre of an inclusive response tailored to the particular needs of the most vulnerable women and men, girls and boys.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further demonstrated the critical importance of localization in Myanmar. In 2021, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will build on the partnerships with national NGOs and local civil society actors that were strengthened as we adjusted to new operational realities in 2020. We will redouble our efforts to put in place robust channels for systematic two-way dialogue and engagement with affected people, and to capitalize on innovations around cash and voucher assistance to further extend our reach.
Humanitarian partners remain committed to contributing to the achievement of durable solutions for displaced people. The National Strategy on Resettlement of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and Closure of IDP Camps provides a key entry point in this regard. Progress on implementation of the Strategy in 2020 was slowed down by COVID-19 but new opportunities are emerging. Our efforts in this regard in 2021 will seek to create new links across the humanitarian-development nexus, while remaining firmly anchored in the perspectives and concerns of displaced people themselves. In Rakhine, the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State will continue to be an important reference point for engagement between humanitarian organizations and the Government of Myanmar.
Our dialogue with the authorities will continue to emphasize the importance of humanitarian access, so that needs can be fully assessed and analyzed, humanitarian activities can be prioritized on the basis of those needs, and the impact of our efforts can be effectively monitored. The Myanmar HCT remains committed to working in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and without any adverse distinction based on region, ethnicity, religion or citizenship status..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Human rights and education, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
10.58 MB
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Summary:
"A total of 214 farmers from communities in Mon and Kayin States and Tanintharyi Region participated in face-to-face training sessions in the following topics.
Good Agricultural Practices: The...
Sub-title:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Myanmar's Department of Agriculture (DoA) recently conducted a series of training sessions to support the capacity development of farmers and technical experts. The training aimed to support and restore the agricultural production and livelihoods of communities affected by the heavy monsoon rains in southern Myanmar.
Description:
"A total of 214 farmers from communities in Mon and Kayin States and Tanintharyi Region participated in face-to-face training sessions in the following topics.
Good Agricultural Practices: The topics covered in this session included farming practices such as vegetable production, soil fertility management and the proper use of fertilizers to help farmers improve their yields. Participating farmers gained knowledge on practices aimed towards enhancing the production of safe, high quality food, promoting environmentally friendly agricultural practices, and ensuring the welfare of farm workers.
Climate-Smart Agriculture: The training session was designed to help farmers understand how climate-induced shocks affect the agricultural sector and share climate-smart agricultural practices that enable families to improve production in a sustainable manner.
Nutrition: The session covered topics related to basic nutrition including a balanced diet, meal planning, food hygiene, and the special feeding needs of children, women and men.
Improving Knowledge: Post-Monsoon Forums
In relation to strengthening early warning early action systems, FAO and the Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology organized virtual Post-Monsoon Forums in December 2020 for technical officers from relevant line ministries and agencies to share experiences, challenges and lessons learned during the 2020 southwest monsoon season. Some 200 technical officers participated in the discussions which aimed to review the southwest monsoon seasonal forecasts and seasonal climate and water level forecasts in Mon and Kayin States and Tanintharyi Region. Furthermore, the forums also aimed to solicit feedback from end users on the usability of the forecasts and recommendations to enhance the early warning system in order to respond to potential disasters through early action.
Participants raised recommendations, gaps and challenges such as the need for meteorological information technology training for DoA staff, dissemination of real-time meteorological information, capacity development on collection and storage of meteorological records, installation of weather sensors in townships (where there are no meteorological centers in the region) and strengthened coordination and sharing of meteorological information and forecast reports with the DoA..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (Rome) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Agricultural Land, Commodities - agricultural products, Adaptation to climate change, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Urban development
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
COVID-19 does not appear to have had a significant impact on monsoon planting for paddy despite some farmers facing financial difficulties, and the agriculture sector is expected to keep growing amid a slump in other parts of the economy.
Description:
"Myanmar’s most important crop – grown on roughly half of its arable land – appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from the coronavirus pandemic.
When the country’s first COVID-19 cases were reported on March 23, harvesting had begun for the summer rice crop; three months later, as efforts continue to keep the coronavirus under control, planting has begun for the monsoon crop.
Overall, the agriculture sector, which accounts for 22 percent of GDP and 38pc of employment, had been “resilient”, the World Bank said in its June Myanmar Economic Monitor, and is expected to grow by 0.7pc for the year.
This is mostly due to strong production of crops, such as rice, and beans and pulses, with COVID-19 inflicting a much greater impact on export-oriented agriculture sub-sectors, such as livestock, fisheries and fruit production.
A World Bank survey in May found that while agriculture firms were the most likely to have experienced cash-flow shortages and reduced access to credit due to COVID-19, just 6pc of them were forced to close. In contrast, 12pc of manufacturers, 15pc of retail and wholesale businesses and 39pc of service companies shut their doors.
But the impact of the virus remains a threat, says the Myanmar Rice Federation. It has asked the government to take a range of measures to strengthen the sector during the pandemic and beyond, including mitigating the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding, along with increasing financial and technical support. The government should ensure farmers have greater access to low-interest loans for buying inputs in order to ensure higher yields, the MRF said. It also urged greater flexibility on repayments so that farmers can wait a few months after the harvest, when overseas and domestic demand usually rises, rather than sell their crop at the same time to pay off debts, which pushes prices down.
“We want to work with the government to create a mechanism to [maintain price stability]; the situation requires smart intervention from the government,” said MRF chair U Ye Min Aung..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Rice, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Labor and farmers rights activists say they will run in the November election as independent candidates for both Union and regional parliament seats in 11 constituencies in Yangon Region, in a bid to raise their voices in the legislature and bring about change.
Myanmar will hold general elections on Nov. 8 with 97 registered political parties vying for a total of 1,171 parliamentary seats. Yangon has a total of 149 seats, 57 of them in the Union Parliament and the rest in the regional parliament.
The advocates-turned-political candidates come from a variety of farmer and labor advocacy groups and said they want to amend labor laws.
They will run in the industrial town of Hlaing Thar Yar as well as Htan Ta Pin and Kawhmu—the constituency where State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to Union Parliament in the 2012 by-election and the 2015 election.
Daw Su Su Nway, farmers’ rights activist and chairwoman of the Myanmar Farmers Union, said she will run for the Union Lower House seat in Kawhmu.
“I will contest in my hometown. I decided to become a candidate as I want to work not only for the farmers from my area but also for those across the nation whose land rights are being violated,” she told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
“We want to work on enacting laws that would benefit farmers and help farmers to get their land rights, so I ask you to put your trust in me,” she added.
U Htay, a lawyer who works to help laborers, plans to run for the Lower House seat for Hlaing Thar Yar Township. He said he wants to work on behalf of laborers and farmers and promote their rights..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Labour issues in Burma, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar has approved a K92 billion COVID-19 relief plan for the domestic food production industry, U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, said on June 26. The approved funding will enable the ministry to support people in the rural areas amid the pandemic.
Description:
"Under the government’s plan, nearly K15 billion will be spent on establishing contract farming jobs on 100,000 acres of farmland. Investment capital totalling K41 billion will be allocated to more than 1700 villages in all the states and regions.
Around K25 billion will be used to acquire and distribute agricultural machinery to farmers in 11 regions and states including Nay Pyi Taw. Furthermore, about K6 billion will be spent on assisting local fish farms and training, while K1.5 billion will be used to create jobs in the livestock industry in 100 townships.
“The goal is to create jobs for as many people as possible. Our plan will benefit more than 120,000 families,” said U Hla Kyaw.
The plan was announced on the same day the World Bank approved a US$200 million credit from the International Development Association to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers. The funds will go towards supporting income retention for farmers by improving the quality and utilisation of agricultural inputs, and generate labour-intensive cash-for work-activities to create jobs for poor households, in particular for migrants returning to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors have approved a $200 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers, with a strong focus on inclusion for smallholder farmers, women and other vulnerable groups.
Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Myanmar—including the temporary shutdown of wet markets and animal feed factories, movement restrictions, the disruption of logistics and transport systems, and tightened restrictions on cross-border flows—has created disruptions in the agriculture and food system. Supply chain disruptions have resulted in market losses and increased feed costs to poultry farmers, small enterprises, and meat producers.
According to the Myanmar Economic Monitor, released by the World Bank on June 25, economic growth is estimated to drop from 6.8 percent in FY18/19 to just 0.5 percent in FY2019/20, with significant downside risks. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 70 percent of the population and accounts for nearly 30 percent of national GDP and merchandise exports. It is the main sector of employment for the poor with 85 percent of the rural population living in a household with one or more members engaged in agriculture..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $200 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers, with a strong focus on inclusion for smallholder farmers, women and other vulnerable groups.
Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Myanmar—including the temporary shutdown of wet markets and animal feed factories, movement restrictions, the disruption of logistics and transport systems, and tightened restrictions on cross-border flows—has created disruptions in the agriculture and food system. Supply chain disruptions have resulted in market losses and increased feed costs to poultry farmers, small enterprises, and meat producers.
According to the Myanmar Economic Monitor, released by the World Bank yesterday, economic growth is estimated to drop from 6.8 percent in FY18/19 to just 0.5 percent in FY2019/20, with significant downside risks. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 70 percent of the population and accounts for nearly 30 percent of national GDP and merchandise exports. It is the main sector of employment for the poor with 85 percent of the rural population living in a household with one or more members engaged in agriculture.
The National Food and Agriculture System Project will support parts of the government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP), which aims to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and facilitate the country’s economic recovery..."
Source/publisher:
World Bank via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar government planned to provide special relief loan to farmers to relieve the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural sector, according to Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry on Thursday.
Local farmers will be provided 50,000 kyats (35.7 U.S. dollars) loans per acre at 5 percent annual interest rate starting this month.
This loan program will be effective for this year as part of the government's relief measures for agribusiness affected by COVID-19, a ministry's official told Xinhua.
Both paddy and crop farmers are eligible to apply for the special relief loan until September.
Meanwhile, the government has been providing annual monsoon agricultural loans to farmers since May 15 this year..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Mangrove forests are under threat across Southeast Asia and in the country of Myanmar alone more than 60% of them were lost within just two decades between 1996 and 2016, according to researchers at...
Description:
"Mangrove forests are under threat across Southeast Asia and in the country of Myanmar alone more than 60% of them were lost within just two decades between 1996 and 2016, according to researchers at the National University of Singapore.
“Mangroves are one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems, and Myanmar is regarded as the current mangrove deforestation hotspot globally,” the scientists write in a study published in Environmental Research Letters. “Net national mangrove cover declined by 52% over 20 years, with annual net loss rates of 3.60%–3.87%. Gross mangrove deforestation was more profound: 63% of the 1996 mangrove extent had been temporarily or permanently converted by 2016.” Most of the country’s mangroves have been converted into rice paddies, oil palm and rubber tree plantations, as well as areas used for aquaculture. The profound loss of deforestation in the country’s mangrove forests, which are critical for biodiversity, is the reason why Myanmar has been described as a primary hotspot of mangrove loss in the world. “It is quite incredible to consider that nearly two-thirds of all mangroves in Myanmar were deforested over a 20-year-period,” says Edward Webb, one of the authors of the study. Mangrove trees grow in various depths of water in coastal areas and they are crucial for coastal marine ecosystems. Their dense entangled roots stabilize coastlines and provide homes to a variety of marine species, including fish and crustaceans. Mangroves can also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, as a result of which these forests play an important role in the fight against climate change.
Mangroves growing in South Asia, in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region account for nearly half, or 46%, of the world’s entire mangrove forests. Southeast Asia is home to the world’s highest rate of mangrove biodiversity. Many of the region’s mangroves, however, have been lost owing to agricultural activities..."
Source/publisher:
"Sustainability Times"
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Mangrove swamps of Burma/Myanmar - general studies and articles, Mangrove swamps: articles and reports referring to Cyclone Nargis, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, The forests of Burma/Myanmar - General
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"This policy bulletin has three main objectives: (i) to outline key risks and policy options to address COVID-19 impacts on the agriculture and food sector in Myanmar, (ii) to facilitate policy dialogue with MOALI around concrete policy objectives to address the COVID-19 emergency in the short and long-term, and (iii) to support coordination of Myanmar‟s Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Coordination Group and its key recommendations.
Myanmar‟s social and economic fabric, like most countries around the world, is being strained by COVID-19. Health systems are under enormous pressure, people are experiencing high levels of stress due to restricted mobility and fear of outbreaks, and economies and food system are under increasing pressure. On 10 March 2020, Myanmar‟s State Counsellor H.E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi noted that Myanmar‟s economy “was suffering from the fallout of the COVID 19 outbreak that has already spread worldwide.” In tandem, The World Bank has predicted a slowing of economic growth in Myanmar, down from 6.3% to 2 or 3% in the 2019-20 fiscal year. As reported in The Frontier on March 30th, “In Myanmar, the 'cure' for COVID could be deadlier than the disease”.
There are a number of potential impacts of COVID-19 on food security and livelihoods in Myanmar.
These include i) disruption of food product market chains due to decreased production and transport constraints affecting both producers and consumers; ii) volatility of prices that could create social tensions and conflict iii) decline in household income sources, livelihoods and purchasing power; iv) and fatalities, should COVID-19 spread seriously across urban and rural areas. It can be expected that households with direct incidences of COVID-19 will be the most severely affected through the loss of labour opportunities and income, incurred expenses, and decreased agricultural production. Those already economically disadvantaged, suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition, or vulnerable to socio-economic shocks, natural hazards and conflict are more likely to suffer severely from COVID-19 as it will deepen their vulnerability in the short and long-term..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (Rome) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
254.83 KB
more
Sub-title:
Economists said the government's COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) should focus more on essential sectors such as agriculture and livestock, which affects longer term food security.
Description:
"The CERP was announced on April 27 to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
“Myanmar is an agricultural country so we should support these sectors to be prepared for a recovery in foreign demand,” said garment business owner U Tun Tun. As the agriculture and livestock breeding businesses are ready to operate and also have a secure workforce, these sectors should be prioritised when allocating funds under the CERP, others suggested.
“Currently, the most viable sector in Myanmar is agriculture and livestock sector. The sector is important because it is essential for the masses. Although this sector is just 30 percent of the country’s GDP, it employs 70pc of the population. So, if we prioritise this sector, we can continue to support the country’s economy,” said U Nay Lin Zin, secretary of the Shwe Lin Pan Industrial Zone.
The government said it will receive foreign assistance in implementing the CERP, according to U Set Aung, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Industry.
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"From a boat on the Salween River in southeastern Myanmar, Than Zaw Oo pointed to a brown stretch of water he said was once full of lush paddy fields. “This used to be my land,” said the 51-year-old farmer, frowning at the murky waves.
All but six of the 24 acres where he used to grow rice and vegetables have slipped into the water in recent years, he said. Another farmer, Than Tun, said he had lost 15 acres of his land to erosion. While official records were not available, other villagers backed their accounts.
Farmers and politicians in Chaungzon township, just outside the southern town of Moulmein, worry that erosion in the area is being exacerbated by the ships that dredge its bed for sand each night. The sand is mainly bound for Singapore, the world’s biggest importer, for use in reclamation and construction projects. Both the Myanmar government and the company whose ships do the dredging in Chaungzon deny the dredging is causing the erosion. But the dispute highlights the fractious issue of sand-mining in Southeast Asia as Singapore is forced to look farther afield to slake its thirst for the mineral following bans on the trade in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia over environmental concerns..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Environmentalists of Burma/Myanmar, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Singapore-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Integrated fish farming may be toxic, but farmers say banning it will raise prices and put people out of work
Description:
"At a Yangon fish farm one recent morning, Myanmar Now watched as chicken faeces fell from coops suspended above a pond, down into the water, where a scrum of fish formed to snack on it.
The practice, known as integrated animal-fish farming, pairs fish ponds with other livestock - often chicken, but also pigs and geese - grown in close proximity, with the animal waste used to generate fish feed.
Advocates say the method is economical, and that the animal waste acts only to fertilize the phytoplankton in the ponds that fish feed on. They deny the fish eat the animal waste itself.
But Myanmar Now saw fish feasting on such waste at six separate integrated farms in Yangon’s Hlegu and Mingalardon township during trips in January and February.
Public health experts say the practice encourages the spread of harmful bacteria and that toxic metals found in chicken feed accumulate in fish, from both the chicken waste and from chicken feed that spills into ponds from the coops above. Trade groups also worry about the practice. It’s banned in much of the developed world, and they say Myanmar’s continued use of integrated farms makes Myanmar a pariah in international seafood markets..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Public Health, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing)
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"CATTLE AND buffalo exporters enjoyed a profitable year in 2018, after the Ministry of Commerce lifted a ban on live exports the previous October, but regulations introduced in 2019 have taken the...
Sub-title:
Exports of animal products have risen dramatically since the government lifted a ban on the export of live cattle and buffalo in October 2017, but new regulations have taken some of the shine off the trade.
Description:
"CATTLE AND buffalo exporters enjoyed a profitable year in 2018, after the Ministry of Commerce lifted a ban on live exports the previous October, but regulations introduced in 2019 have taken the shine off the trade.
The lifting of the ban saw more than 260 companies apply for export permits by mid-2019, of which more than 90 were approved, and exports of animal products rose from just $10.627 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year to $366.359 million in 2018-19, Ministry of Commerce data shows. China is the largest importer of cattle and buffaloes from Myanmar, followed by Thailand.
But traders grumble about delays in issuing the licences they need to send livestock across borders and say the government could do more to support live exports by simplifying regulations. Other challenges facing the cattle export industry, say livestock specialists, include the need to upgrade the quality of livestock.
Most of the nation’s cattle farms are in Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions. Many of the farms are small plots owned by traders, who do not breed livestock but buy on the domestic market and keep the animals until they can be exported at times of high demand. Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
Frontier met cattle traders at Latpan village, in Mandalay Region’s Kyaukse Township, who said they were unhappy at not being able to get export licences in 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Border Trade - general, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Illegal Economy - general
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"For many farmers in rural Myanmar, Facebook embodies the internet. With scarce availability of WiFi, they often reserve their mobile data usage for the social network.
That habit is difficult to break. Adrian Soe Myint, CEO of Yangon-based agritech startup Village Link, said it was challenging to convince farmers to allot part of their mobile data for the startup’s app, Htwet Toe, which means “higher yield.” The app’s name is exactly what Soe Myint wants for farmers in his country. Founded in 2016, the startup uses mobile technology to connect farmers and other stakeholders in Myanmar’s agriculture sector, which accounts for 38% of the country’s gross domestic product, as estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
But agricultural productivity in Myanmar is extremely low – the national output falls far behind that of neighboring countries. In a blog post, the World Bank explains how the country has not been able to capitalize on its “fertile soils and abundant water source.” A rice farmer in Myanmar generates only 23 kilograms of paddy after one working day during monsoon season, compared to Vietnam’s output of 429 kilograms and Thailand’s 547 kilograms..."
Source/publisher:
"Tech in Asia" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"As the time for growing rice in Myanmar approaches, Kyaw Thet Naing, a farmer who lives on the outskirts of the nation's capital Nay Pyi Taw, already has high hope for his harvest.
His confidence...
Description:
"As the time for growing rice in Myanmar approaches, Kyaw Thet Naing, a farmer who lives on the outskirts of the nation's capital Nay Pyi Taw, already has high hope for his harvest.
His confidence has grown from experiencing years of rich and quality yields on his five acres of rice, where he has kept planting paddy seed varieties from China and practiced related farming techniques since 2017.
"With our traditional ways of cultivation, we would normally produce about 60 baskets (1,260 kg) per acre. With China's assistance, we have added nearly 50 baskets per acre," he said.
In the past year, rice seeds and related techniques from China have become widely accepted among nearby farmers, he added. In 2017, the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GAAS) in Nanning, capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, worked with agricultural authorities in Myanmar as well as companies from both sides to build several research platforms in Nay Pyi Taw.
The platforms, which aim to introduce, select, demonstrate and publicize high-quality crop varieties from both countries, launched research projects targeting new ways to plant and grow crops more efficiently and with greener methods in pest and disease prevention and control.
Yang Mingtong, chairman of the Guangxi Haokay Biotechnology Co. Ltd., one of the contributors to the platform, said that the company has been conducting tests and plant trials for about 102 Chinese crop varieties, including rice, corn, cucurbit and vegetables, in Myanmar to see if they are suited to the local climate and soil conditions..."
Source/publisher:
"The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Shifting ("swidden", "jhum", "taungya", "kaingin") cultivation - regional and global, Sustainable agriculture - global and regional, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar is earned US$1.082 billion from agricultural products exports from October 1 to January 17 in this fiscal year and it is more US$141.18 million compared with the farming products exports in the same period last year, according to Ministry of Commerce.
It is exporting agricultural products, animal products, fishery products, mining products, forestry products, CMP exports and other products mainly.
“Myanmar is exporting rice largely. Jade expos can increase the sale of jades. CMP is increased annually. Price of natural gas is soared to earn more. The export amounts are increased as well as their price. The bean export is decreased to 80,000 tons in compared with the same period last year but we earned the same,” said Khin Maung Lwin, Assistant Secretary of the ministry..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar’s rice growers are increasingly concerned about the amount of water in the country available for the irrigation of their crops, industry insiders say.
Description:
"U Myo Tint Tun, assistant secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation recently said: “A reduction in water available for crop irrigation is likely. Right now, the rainfall the country receives has been lower than in previous rainy seasons. Water flowing into the county’s dams has been fluctuating over the recent years and the amount cannot be estimated accurately. What is definitely known is that the country has to be more effective in saving water.”
Rice is one of Myanmar’s major exports, and if shortages of irrigation water occur it would negatively impact a revenue source for the country. U Myo Tint Tun, says building more dams will not help the situation as there are already enough and that the problem is solely due to the climate.
Being an agricultural country, irrigation water is a critical issue for Myanmar, he added.
“Being an agricultural country, it is very important to have sufficient irrigation water. As rice is a major crop, Myanmar needs more water. The crop grows with rain water during the rainy season but in dry areas, irrigation water has to be supplied. If that insufficiency of irrigated water persists, it will be a great challenge for the agriculture sector,” said U Myo Tint Tun.
To address the situation, the Agricultural Development Strategy was drafted about two years ago under the present government and it features solutions to uncommon weather conditions, he said.
Myanmar’s 15 states and regions have different weather patterns, geographical features and water resources so approaches to deal with these are not the same, said U Myo Tint Tun..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Adaptation to climate change, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Water resources of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Shan state government will focus on agriculture to drive its economy and bring prosperity to Myanmar, as well as the region.
Shan Planning and Finance Minister U Soe Nyunt Lwin said agriculture was one of the main resources in the state as the vast land and climate conditions were suitable for crops.
“Agricultural produce from Shan is much sought after in domestic and overseas markets. There is a lot of potential for investors to explore the agricultural sector.”
The state government recently held an investment forum on the agricultural sector for potential local and foreign investors, indicating its commitment to the economic focus on agriculture.
Many people in Shan rely on agriculture for their livelihood. Among the major crops in the state are rice, maize, soyabean, potato, sugarcane, tea, coffee and mangoes.
Chief Minister U Lin Htut said the state had sizeable land suited for agricultural cultivation, which also bordered China, Thailand and Laos.
“The state is also home to the Muse and Tachileik border trade areas and has moderate levels of water, power and road infrastructure that can be improved. All of these point to a positive landscape for investments in Shan’s agriculture sector.”
According to the state Department of Agriculture, there are 2.3 million ha of land suitable for cultivation in the state and only about 800,000ha are in use..."
Source/publisher:
"New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
China's state-owned CITIC Construction group, the Myanmar Rice Federation and Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of agricultural centres in three key regions.
Description:
"The US$130 million (K197 billion) deal signed in Nay Pyi Taw last week will construct centres in Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Mandalay and Rakhine.
“The project intends to upgrade the quality of agricultural produce by providing services such as dryers and warehouses for post-harvest storage,” said U Ye Min Aung, chair of the federation.
It also plans to go into partnered cultivation, to support farmers in the marketing of high-quality products, and to arrange for systematic market access, he added.
The centres will be set up in Twante township in Yangon, Kyaiklat township in Ayeyarwady, Madaya township in Mandalay, and Kyauktaw township in Rakhine.
Details such the investment ratio and profit-sharing will be decided after further discussions, said U Myint Lwin of the federation..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - global and regional, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The country is in need of an agricultural commodity exchange suited to Myanmar, said Ye Min Aung, Vice-President of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) at a knowledge sharing seminar titled “Agri-commodity exchange” Park Royal Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on February 19.
“Recently, there emerged a commodity exchange in Ethiopia. In implementing the system, our country needs to take lessons of other countries. Efforts should be made to ensure the emergence of agriculture commodity exchange suitable to our country. On the other hand, we need laws and bylaws for the commodity exchange,” he added.
With the aim of ensuring the emergence of agriculture commodity exchange in Myanmar, India had shared its knowledge and experience about the exchange system and technologies..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - global and regional, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, India-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is not a country that comes to mind when one thinks of exquisite blends of coffee.
But an olfactory and flavorsome revolution is in the making, infusing value into a beverage that has long lagged a poor second to Myanmar’s national beverage, tea.
Coffee is growing in popularity. And the export potential is up, with smallholder coffee growers beginning to be able to compete or develop a niche in the world’s coffee market.
Coffee is the second most sought-after commodity in the world, with an industry that is worth over $100 billion across the globe. Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day.
Over 90 percent of coffee production takes place in developing countries, mostly South America, while consumption happens mainly in the industrialized economies.
TRANSFORMING THE RURAL IDYL: It is far too early to see a Starbucks crop up in every town and city in Myanmar. But what we are seeing is the development of standard and specialty coffees aimed at local and foreign palates.
Everybody knows that Myanmar’s agricultural sector makes up the backbone of the economy with over 60 percent of the working population toiling the land. But up to a few years ago it was a backward production model typified by scenes of bullocks ploughing the fields and poor communications, mud roads and supply chains..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other crops, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"In 2018-19 fiscal year, around 17.9 million acres of monsoon paddy were grown and paddy production was around 30 million tons of paddy, said Dr. Aung Thu, Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
Paddy production still tops the list of local agro products. Pawsanhmway paddy accounted for around 1.3 million acres of total paddy growing acres.
There is a high demand for Pawsanhmway paddy in the local market. Farmers get a good price for Pawsanhmway paddy.
Pawsanhmway paddy got the Word’s Best Rice Award at Rice Traders World Rice Conference held in Hochimin City of Vietnam in 2011.
The agricultural sector contributes to 30 per cent of the GDP and 25 per cent of the export earnings. The rural people which account for 70 per cent of have to rely on agriculture and breeding.
Till June of 2018-19 FY, Myanmar planted 15,083,156 acres of monsoon paddy and 2,777,899 acres of summer paddy and produced over 1,294.5 million baskets of paddy—1,082,587,039 baskets of monsoon paddy and 211,969253 baskets of summer paddy, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
India bought more black gram beans, known locally as black matpe, from Myanmar in October, an industry official revealed yesterday.
Description:
"India, which imposed a quota system for pulse crops from Myanmar in March this year, continued buying local black gram after the quota was met last month said U Min Ko Oo, secretary of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants Association.
According to U Min Ko Oo, three companies received permission from the Indian government to continue buying the crop from Myanmar, pushing up prices locally.
In the first week of October, the price of black gram was around K80,000 per tonne, but now it is up to about K1.3 million per tonne, he added.
“Indian companies are buying black gram again because, reportedly, the crop in India was poorer than expected. They have been buying 3000 to 4000 tonnes a week from Myanmar since the third week of October,” said U Min Ko Oo.
“They already bought a lot of black gram from Myanmar under the quota system at lower prices, but now they are continuing to buy at higher prices,” said U Kyaw Twin, a bean merchant based in Mandalay.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, some 77 percent of Myanmar’s annual pulse crop is exported to India..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Burma's economic relations with India, India-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential for agricultural-based communities in the Dry Zone of
Myanmar to be harmed by shifting environmental conditions, a disabling governance and policy environment,
and inefficient agricultural-based markets. Though specific topics such as water resources, indebtedness, and
agricultural policy are well studied in the Dry Zone, few systematic efforts have been employed to evaluate
and prioritize the cumulative impacts resulting from interacting and multi-sector shocks and stresses facing
communities. This report presents an overview of a Strategic Resilience Assessment (STRESS) conducted by
Mercy Corps in partnership with Enlightened Myanmar Research (EMR).
The use of credit is vital for Dry Zone farming communities, but debt accumulation and restrictive repayment
terms reduce the ability of households to positively cope and adapt to easily perturbed social, economic,
and environmental conditions. Other types of shocks and stresses such as poor access to quality inputs,
unsupportive policies, erratic rainfall, and land degradation are in a dynamic state of interaction with both the
debt cycle and each other. They are feeding off one another, and their cumulative impact is greater than from
an individual stress.
To build resilience and positively manage challenges, development strategies should be tailored
to increase the absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities of communities. Together, these
represent the short-, medium-, and long-term capabilities that are essential for community resilience. They are
also the foundation of support recommendations presented here through a Theory of Change (ToC). Potential
resilience-building development strategies have been placed into three groupings that support and reinforce
one another: (1) better and more flexible financial options can increase the potential profitability of existing
livelihood strategies and the ability to invest in new ones; (2) improved crop production strategies can intensify
production more sustainably by getting more from less, better absorbing the impacts of variable conditions,
and increasing the market power of farmers and laborers; and (3) diversifying income streams aims to help
households better manage risk by spreading investments across more than one type of livelihood strategy..."
Source/publisher:
"MercyCorps" via Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.15 MB
more
Description:
"A ceremony to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Myanmar and Italy to cooperate in the water management in the farming sector and development of mechanized farming, was held in Nay Pyi Taw on August 2, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
Under the MoU, Italy will provide technical assistance for the establishment of irrigation technical center at the Shwehlanbo river water pumping and underground water training school in Sintkai Township in Mandalay Region for the development of dam irrigation technology and the mechanized farming technology center at No.61 mechanized farming camp in Wetlet Township in Sagaing Region for development of mechanized farming system, for three years.
The MoU was signed by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Hla Kyaw and Italian Ambassador to Myanmar Mrs. Alessandra Schiavo.
In addition, the ministry is discussing a plan to promote technical cooperation for development of farming sector between Myanmar and India. Both sides discussed the utilization of technologies and opening of animal health and management courses according to the MoU between Myanmar and India, for development Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Water resources of Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar's export of agricultural products reached over 1.28 billion U.S. dollars as of Feb. 22 in present fiscal year 2018-2019 which started in October, according to the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday.
The figures showed an increase of 81.9 million U.S. dollars while compared with the same period in last fiscal year 2017-2018 when it showed 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.
The country exports rice as the major agricultural product, pulses, corn, rubber, fruits and vegetables and others.
Meanwhile, Myanmar President U Win Myint called for doubled efforts to increase agricultural products to boost the agricultural export in the international markets, on the occasion of Myanmar's Peasants Day on March 2.
He also urged the farmers to strive for the national interest and all round development with increased momentum, noting that Myanmar is rich in land and water resources and has a good climate favorable for agriculture and livestock production..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The United States and Myanmar partners celebrated achievements in Myanmar’s melon, sesame, coffee, ginger, and soybean sectors at the #MarketNext event yesterday, according to a press release.
Agriculture is vital to the livelihoods of the majority of people in Myanmar. U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel answered questions from trade association leaders, farmers and other Myanmar partners during today’s event. He said, “Myanmar has tremendous potential to produce and export a wide range of agricultural products. Our programs are designed to help farmers and others expand quality production and find good markets that allow them to increase their incomes.”
The #MarketNext event marks the end of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Value Chains for Rural Development project. USAID invested $27 million from 2014-2019. This project has helped 40,000 farmers, at least a third of whom are women, and 400 private sector partners. Strong producer and exporter associations such as Myanmar Coffee Association, Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association, and the Sesame Farmer Development Association will carry on the work of helping farmers improve their production while also establishing new markets for Myanmar products..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar, USA-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"By mid-June, most of the greens at Bamboo Creek Farm had gone to seed. Left untended, heads of dinosaur kale and heirloom lettuce sent up scraggly, flower-crowned stalks toward the sky, rendering their own leaves too bitter to sell or eat. Near the silty creek that snakes around the southern edge of the farm, a handful of fat, dusky Cherokee Purple tomatoes sagged on the vine or dropped from their bamboo stakes to rot on the ground.
No respectable farmer would neglect their own healthy, lush crops in the middle of market season. Especially not one who’s been working with the land since he was an adolescent, as Steven Than Ceu has. But after a series of storms in April, when Snapfinger Creek rose up, washed away the farm’s topsoil, and left a loamy layer of sand in its place, the crops were possibly contaminated and definitely unsellable. The flood also took with it the primary source of household income for Ceu and two of the other four families who farm these 15 acres in Stone Mountain.
Ceu had farmed rice and corn in the Chin state of Myanmar (formerly Burma) from the time he was 14, when the country’s government shut down his school. As violence escalated, Ceu fled in 2010 at the age of 36, seeking refuge with his wife and four children in the United States. The family was resettled in Atlanta, where Ceu initially found work at a poultry-processing facility—he calls it “the chicken factory.” The following year, he discovered Global Growers..."
Source/publisher:
"Atlanta"
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, has committed $8 million to Proximity Finance to support expanded micro lending to rural borrowers, primarily smallholder farmers, in Myanmar.
OPIC Chief of Staff Eric Jones and Proximity Designs CEO Jim Taylor, and Proximity Finance Head of Finance Sein Nwe Oo signed the commitment. The Skoll Foundation, a long-term supporter of Proximity Finance, has committed an additional $2 million of subordinated debt as part of the co-financing package, according to a press release from the US Embassy on 3 April.
In Myanmar, agriculture employs 60% of the labor force and contributes roughly 30% of total GDP, but limited access to credit in rural communities continues to restrict the sector’s growth.
Without formal financial services, borrowers in these regions are often forced to accept high interest rates from informal lenders, or pawn their land and other assets for capital.
Proximity Finance, which designs its loans to meet the particular needs of smallholder farmers, is the microfinance arm of Proximity Designs, a social enterprise dedicated to serving Myanmar’s rural families. Through its rural branch network and specialized loan products that are disbursed and repaid in line with the planting and harvest seasons, Proximity currently serves the financing needs of over 100,000 households, a number that is expected to double over the next five years, a period that will see them disburse nearly 1,000,000 loans. OPIC’s financing is expected to support an additional 100,000 microloans throughout the life of the investment.
OPIC’s partnership with Skoll Foundation is an example of a blended finance transaction, an innovative funding structure where different types of capital work together to achieve economic and social impact. One of the first arrangements of its kind in Myanmar, the structure has helped secure Proximity’s biggest single investment to date, over three times the previous largest sum invested. OPIC’s commitment also advances its 2X Women’s Initiative to support projects that benefit women, who represent over half of the company’s customers..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"U.S.-based agricultural experts are in Myanmar this week working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MOALI) and farming communities to mitigate the spread of a new agricultural pest called Fall Armyworm, which has the potential to dramatically reduce maize crop production in Myanmar. Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) brought eight experts from Michigan State University to Nay Pyi Taw to conduct a two-day workshop with MOALI to discuss mitigation strategies with agribusiness representatives, NGO’s, CSOs, and national and local-level government officials. Earlier this week, the Michigan State team and officials from the MOALI Plant Protection Division and Department of Agricultural Research conducted field assessments with farmers whose crops have been hardest hit by Fall Armyworm in the Nyaungdone, Danuphyu, and Hintada townships of the Delta Region.
“The Myanmar government asked us for help to assess and advise on how to mitigate crop losses due to this agricultural pest, which is new to Myanmar. We are happy to be able to help,” Ambassador Scot Marciel said at the workshop today. This is part of approximately $120 million each year the United States provides in bilateral assistance to support greater prosperity and peace in Myanmar.
Shan State is the largest producer of maize in Myanmar and farmers there are likely to be hardest hit by the pest, which was found in Myanmar for the first time in January 2019 by local MOALI field staff in the Zalon and Hintada Townships.
“Key to minimizing the damage done to crops in Myanmar is working with farmers, MOALI, agribusinesses, and local and international development partners to better be able to identify the pest and prevent its spread” USAID Mission Director Teresa McGhie said. “That’s why we are pleased to lend U.S. agricultural expertise to support this workshop intended to help MOALI and farmers,” she added.
USAID has also created a short educational video to inform farmers about how to look for and identify the pest among their crops, and is distributing the video to farmers through social media and Department of Agriculture Extension Services..."
Source/publisher:
US Department of State via Reliefweb
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
366.03 KB
more
Description:
"Myanmar has drawn up standards and specifications for 26 agricultural products to ensure them meet international standards and to bolster export through improving the quality of the products, according to the Agriculture and Market Information Agency Monday.
Standards of rice, beans and pulses, watermelon, banana, pomelo and coffee are among those approved, while standards for durian, mangosteen, muskmelon, peanut, sesame, mango, onion, corn, cashew nut, coconut and pineapple are being drafted for submission to the government for approval.
Myanmar is drafting the standards and specifications in both English and Myanmar languages with the help of local and foreign experts including those from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an official from the Consumer Affairs Department said.
Myanmar's Union Parliament enacted the law on Standardization on July 3, 2014, aimed at helping promote export by improving the quality of production organizations and their products as well as their services..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Commodities - agricultural products, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Agricultural marketing
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Daniel Bennett, managing director and co-founder of Shan Orchard Myanmar, reckons Myanmar is the perfect place for the company to reach its goal of growing up to 100 acres of premium Hass avocados for export.
Description:
"“We are interested in southern Shan, where our orchard is, because of its unique subtropical/temperate climate, which is ideal for crops ranging from mangoes to wheat, potatoes to rice, as well as Hass avocados. You can grow a wide range of produce that you cannot grow in other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, which are generally too hot and very wet,” Bennett said.
“The other reason I came to Shan State was because the Shan Plateau has an abundance of flat land that is conducive cost-wise to our goal of producing Hass avocados and related products like edible oils and guacamole for export,” he said.
Shan Orchard Myanmar was established in 2017 by New Zealander Bennett, who has 15 years of experience in early-stage agricultural firms and large established plantations across Asia, and local entrepreneurs Nathan Naing Win and Thel Suu Thinzar Bo. It is a wholly owned registered company specialising in producing Hass avocado oil for export.
The oil, which is cold pressed and extra virgin, is generally used in the high-end food industry as a salad dressing, and is a beautiful green-gold colour..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is working to become a seed-exporting country in the next five or ten years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
Dr. Ye Tin Tun, Director-General of the Agricultural Department said: “In implementing the goal of becoming a seed-exporting country, cooperation between the departments such as seed division and plant protection division under the Agricultural Department and Agricultural Research Department, Customs Department and the Commerce Ministry, seed production companies and farmers, are needed.”
Farmers can increase their income only when they can use high-yield seeds and new seed species which can make rapid response to climate changes. It would help support the country’s GDP growth, he continued.
Currently, the country has to import seeds from other countries. The government will make coordination with those involved in the seed sector, through the national-level discussions on the review of the existing laws and procedures.
In addition, the government is trying to establish a seed production system in order to enable farmers to have easy access to high-quality seeds and to manufacture necessary seeds in harmony with the growing season..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The government will borrow US$185 million (K283.4 billion) from the Asian Development Bank to finance rural development projects across the country, a senior agriculture official said.
Description:
"U Hla Kyaw, deputy minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, told the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) on Monday that more than 1.8 million people would benefit from the projects funded by the loan.
Most of the projects would be labour intensive and would directly benefit people in villages.
“The villagers will participate in rural development, the incomes of rural families will increase, and their living standard will be higher,” he said, adding that the projects will help rural people better withstand natural disasters.
The ADB loan will form part of the $244.95 million in rural development projects that the government is currently implementing. A portion of the project is funded by the European Union and the Japanese government.
U Hla Kyaw said 70 percent of the projects will involve the direct participation of villagers.
“The public approach development method will be used,” said U Hla Kyaw, adding that some 1395 local youths will be appointed public organisers..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar, Urban development
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A quick introduction to the past, present and future of Myanmar’s most important industry.
Description:
"The most common crops are rice, beans and pulses, and maize, in that order.
In general, farmers grow rice and maize during the monsoon season and beans and pulses during the dry season, although farmers in the temperate highlands often try for a second harvest of rice and maize if there is enough water left after the rains.
Likewise, in the water-rich Ayeyarwady Delta, farmers often eschew dry season beans for another paddy harvest.
Rice (including Myanmar’s most famous variety, paw san) and beans and pulses (especially chickpeas, green gram and black gram) are grown basically everywhere. Indeed, 80 percent of all Myanmar farmers grow rice and most plant beans and pulses after the paddy growing season, according to a survey published in 2016 by the World Bank Group.
That said, the rice production peaks around the Ayeyarwady Delta, while more beans and pulses (which can tolerate hotter, dryer conditions) are grown in the central dry zone.
Maize comes a distant third in terms of area cultivated. Unlike beans and rice, maize thrives in the temperate highlands, especially in Shan State, Sagaing Region and Chin State..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Agricultural Land, Rice
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Digital payment service provider Ongo is partnering with microfinance lender Advans MFI Myanmar Co to digitise loan repayments.
Description:
"The move will enable Advans borrowers to pay back their loans more quickly and easily with a mobile app or with an QR Card at any Ongo agent, the company said in a press statement.
Advans Myanmar started lending operations in April 2017 and serves over 44,000 clients with a loan portfolio of over K18 billion at the end of June. The MFI offers village banking to clients in rural areas as well as small group lending products and individual loans in urban areas. Advans aims to promote inclusive economic growth in Myanmar by building the financial stability of families, small businesses and farmers.
Digital payment systems can ease the livelihoods of people who depend on finance services for their commercial growth and operations owing to the rising mobile internet penetrate rate, the company added.
“Borrowers in rural areas often face logistical and access challenges, and Ongo provides an easy way for communities, including those in Mandalay and Sagaing where Advans operates, to pay back their loans without having to leave their own homes or business premises,” said Ongo CEO Allen Gilstrap..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar-focused private equity firm Anthem Asia announced on Friday it invested over $1 million in an early-stage agri-business Shan Orchard Myanmar Ltd, the first investment from its $50-million Myanmar SME Venture Fund. Based close to Heho Airport located near the popular Inle Lake at Southern Shan State in Myanmar, Shan Orchard is an agriculture services business focusing on growing Hass avocados and processing avocado oil. It is led by seasoned agri-business entrepreneurs Nathan Naing Winn and Daniel Bennett, as well as local Myanmar female entrepreneur Thel Suu Thinzar Bo. The capital will be used for purchasing an avocado oil processing facility, support facilities, acquiring farmland and working capital. “The avocado oil processing will be running by the end of the year with supplies coming from dozens of local farmers. In future, we will also source international grade avocados from our own plantations,” said Shan Orchard co-founder Nathan Naing Winn, who has experiences in logistics, operations and finance. Shan Orchard is also leveraging its management expertise to add value with other higher-value crops: it is trialling higher-value rice types and plans to intercrop other high-value products with the avocado plant to maximise land use and improve seasonality..."
Source/publisher:
"Deal Street Asia"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - global and regional, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Rice
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In Myanmar, the agricultural sector accounts for some 28 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), but yields are low due to farmers being cut-off from modern technology under the previous regime for decades. Farmers in Myanmar are still among the country's poorest. A 2017 World Bank study found that farmers in some areas of the country still earn as little as US$2 per day. Compared to other rice-yielding nations in the region, rice paddy generation is also low in Myanmar at 23 kilograms (kg) a day as opposed to Cambodia (62kg), Vietnam (429kg), and Thailand (547kg) respectively, a 2016 World Bank report stated.
Most people in Myanmar, including farmers, have smartphones. The country today has a smartphone penetration rate of 80 percent and app developers have been quick to create apps for everything ranging from healthcare to Myanmar's parliament.
One game-changer among agricultural apps in Myanmar is the ‘Green Way’ app which was launched in 2016. The app provides farmers with up-to-date information on everything from weather and climate change to crop prices and advice on pesticides and fertilisers. There is also a chat feature on the app that allows farmers to connect with each other, allowing for exchange of information. There are also tips, as well as the availability of experts on hand to answer additional queries..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Rice
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On the 21st of February 2019, in Navartana Hall, Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw – Myanmar, the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sustainable Agriculture Development collaboration.
Following one year of intense discussions, the MoU covering technical cooperation between SFSA and DAR, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar has been signed in Nay Pyi Taw. The Department of Agricultural Research was represented by U Naing Kyi Win, Director General, and the Syngenta Foundation by Hervé Thieblemont, South-east Asia regional director.
The overall objective of this three year Seeds to Business (S2B) program driven by SFSA is to improve access to quality seeds for smallholder farmers in Myanmar. SFSA contribution will be focused on:
Facilitating links between DAR/DOA and the private seed companies
Promoting and facilitating regular dialogue between DAR and the Myanmar Seed association. These discussions should include market feedback to ensure breeding and trialing programs are targeting market demands.
Implementing additional field plots and trials to for new varieties for open viewing for private sector partners and testing with farmers and grower groups to identify commercial varieties in collaboration with local seed companies.
Supporting the private sector to confirm and test seed production economics and build capacity for seed production..."
Source/publisher:
"Syngenta Foundation"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Agricultural production throughout Rakhine State is generally constrained by a number of structural issues, such as inadequate access to land, low productivity, shortages of casual labour, limited credit availability and general lack of systematic, timely and efficient training and extension services to farmers. Continuous exposure to natural disasters and socio-political conditions further impair opportunities in agriculture.
The 2017/18 harvest of monsoon paddy, harvested by December 2017, was reported to be average to slightly above average in the southern (Kyaukphyu and Thandwe) and central (Sittwe and Mrauk-U) districts. In Maungdaw District, vast tracks of rice fields were deemed not to be harvested. Given that the Mission took place well after the harvest and before planting, it was unable to verify the situation on the ground but farmers interviewed confirmed the claim. No economically significant outbreaks of pests or diseases were reported in the season.
Production of winter crops (mostly groundnuts and vegetables) in the 2017/18 season in the southern and central parts was reported to be average. In Maungdaw District, production remained low as many fields were not sown.
Due to lack of precipitation or fresh water storage, summer (dry season) paddy production in the State is limited.
Possible scenarios for the 2018 main monsoon paddy season varied by location. In the southern districts, assuming normal weather conditions, the rice production was likely to resemble the previous years. In the central part, planting intentions reported by farmers were similar to the previous years, although labour shortages were likely to constrain overall production. In the north, areas planted were likely to be well below average due to reduced population, constrained access to field and limited availability of labour, draft animals and agricultural inputs, in particular seeds and fertilizers...''
Source/publisher:
"Reliefweb" via World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
WFP (World Food Programme), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security - global and regional literature
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.7 MB
more
Sub-title:
Jim Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Proximity Designs, is on a mission to help Myanmar farmers gain access to finance. The funds will help them pay for seeds to plant crops, labour to till the land, and basic infrastructure, such as irrigation equipment and
Description:
"“If you want to help the people of Myanmar, farming is a pretty good place to start. Despite the country’s rapid urbanisation in recent years, the population remains overwhelmingly rural, with 70 percent of people relying on the land for their livelihoods,” said a recent blog post by Proximity Designs.
This came after the US government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) committed US$8 million to Proximity Finance on April 3 to support expanded micro lending to rural Myanmar borrowers, primarily smallholder farmers. The Skoll Foundation, a long-term supporter of Proximity Finance, committed an additional US$2 million of subordinated debt as part of the co-financing package.
“By expanding their access to affordable credit, OPIC’s partnership with Proximity Designs will equip smallholder farmers to improve their yields, expand their enterprises, and help their communities thrive,” said OPIC’s acting President and CEO David Bohigian.
Proximity Finance, which designs its loans to meet the needs of smallholder farmers, is the microfinance arm of Proximity Designs, a social enterprise that serves the needs of over 100,000 households in 2000 villages, primarily in farming..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Agricultural Land
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ASEAN Connect EP Myanmar with Agriculture and Fishery products Development (2018)..."
Source/publisher:
Bird Eyeview Network TV
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Rice, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar Agriculture Network (MAN) was established in 2013 under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation along with local and global businesses and other stakeholders. The Network serves as a multi-stakeholder platform to accelerate partnership opportunities and investment in food security. It works to ensure environmentally sustainable and inclusive agricultural growth in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Grow Asia Communications
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In Myanmar’ Shan State, ginger represents an important means of livelihood for hundreds of farmers. Working long hours under the blazing sun, farmers seldom protect themselves from the risks the fields expose them to. To address the various health risks associated with agricultural practices and maximize cropping, the ILO Vision Zero Fund project is working with farmers and their communities to equip them with better information on occupational safety and health (OSH) and the safe use of agrochemicals..."
Source/publisher:
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Labour Organisation (ILO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The husband-and-wife team of Jim and Debbie Aung Din Taylor started small in 2004, but today the founders of the socially responsible company Proximity Designs work together with Harvard and Stanford Universities. 2012 was their most successful year ever, as they were able to better the lot of Burmese farmers with over 500 projects. Those include foot-powered water pumps, simple-to-construct irrigation systems and mobile reservoirs which are both inexpensive and built to last. Products like these are the secret to success for the social entrepreneurs and their Rangoon design studio..."
Source/publisher:
DW News
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Staying ahead in Myanmar’s changing irrigation market
Our irrigation business designs innovative products to
meet the rapidly evolving needs of Myanmar’s smallholder
farmers. While treadle pump sales declined 16 percent this
year, the introduction of our new sprinkler system has
contributed significantly in boosting overall sales.
Precision irrigation systems (drip and sprinkler products)
now account for 52 percent of total sales, up from 28
percent last year, reflecting broader technology trends
throughout Myanmar.
As urban and out migration have increased so have rural
labor shortages, and consequently farmers continue
to demand more labor-saving products. By making our
precision irrigation systems compatible with mechanized
pumps and focusing on technologies that optimize
farmers’ limited resources, we are pivoting to meet their
demands. As a result, product sales increased to 24,627
units, 17 percent higher than last year.
Yetagon Irrigation’s production and delivery methods are
evolving alongside its portfolio mix. The manufacturing
team is now using foreign parts to assemble products in
the South Dagon workshop, speeding up the production
process, lowering costs, and improving the quality of our
products. We have also refined our four-channel delivery
system: agents are now trained to install products, allowing
sales representatives and agro dealers to improve their
closing rates to 30 percent, while an improved online
platform allows us to engage with customers outside the
reach of previously existing channels.
This year the direct sales force, comprised of 83 sales
representatives, held 47,510 product demonstrations
and drove the majority of our irrigation product sales (73
percent). Although total product sales have increased,
sales of specific products such as the Lotus solar pump
were considerably lower than expected. In order to combat
this low uptake, we have developed a new sales incentive
structure and rent-to-own payment system for the solar
pump. These new initiatives will be rolled out in Q1 FY2018..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Adaptation to climate change, Rice, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
817.61 KB
more
Description:
"This year, we served a total number of 149,042 farm customers
through crop loans, irrigation products and agronomy advice -
a 34 percent increase from the last fiscal year.
• 87,695 of our customers were new, first-time customers.
• We had a total of 207,5061
farm households actively using a
Proximity product or service – representing approximately
892,000 people.2
• Our total customer base in Myanmar is now over 640,000 farm
households (close to 2.75 million people) located across more
than ten thousand villages.
• Total rural household incomes increased by an estimated over
USD 50 million across all of our active customers.3
This
translates into USD 5 of rural incomes increased per dollar
spent for operations and USD 15 of rural income increased
per donor dollar spent for operations.
• Our “Yetagon” Irrigation farm tech unit sold 26,051 irrigation
products to 11,583 growers who are now using advanced
micro irrigation systems.
• 51,496 farm households adopted improved agronomic practices
or used a service provided by our Farm Advisory Services unit..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.18 MB
more
Description:
"With the new fiscal year underway, our Yangon team moved
into a new head office in September—bringing all business
units and teams under one roof. Our Irrigation business
launched its newest product—a micro irrigation sprinkler
system with 60 units sold in the first month. Our Farm
Advisory Services expanded operations from the Delta to
the central Dry Zone. Proximity Finance, our farm finance
business, now serves 57,695 rural borrowers. Our economic
research team produced a short discussion paper, entitled
“Internal and External Challenges to Unity in Myanmar,”
in response to the country’s critical juncture in democratic
transition. Proximity Labs, our design team, is working on a
pipeline of products and services including a soil moisture
sensor, seed multiplication services, and a redesigned solar
irrigation pump..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.78 MB
more
Description:
"At our mid-year point, Proximity has served over 85,000
customer households with our irrigation technology, rural
finance, and advisory services. Year-to-date irrigation sales
are up 11 percent, compared to FY2016, and our new sprinkler
irrigation product has been well-received by farmers.
Adoption rates for our farm advisory services jumped to 68
percent by quarter end, as our extension staff served 8.2
farmers each per working day. Proximity Finance is now
serving 60,238 active customers with an outstanding portfolio
of USD11.7 million. Proximity Research focused on recent
inter-communal violence in Rakhine State with domestic
research visits, and made preparations to take Myanmar
leaders to visit Indonesia and Maluku in the next quarter. Our
in-house product and service design team, Proximity Labs,
completed a full-season pilot of our SMS-messaging service to
advise farmers on timely fertilizer application, ready for launch
next quarter..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.42 MB
more
Description:
"In quarter three Proximity expanded to serve more rural
households in Myanmar. As of March 31, 113,258 unique
customers have purchased a product, adopted our farm
advisory or received our financial services this fiscal year.
This quarter farm households purchased 8,871 irrigation
products—a 20 percent increase on the same quarter last
year. 67,695 rural households have loans outstanding from
Proximity Finance. 14,657 farmers received farm advisory
services—a 182 percent increase on the same quarter last year.
The results of our impact survey show that adopters of our
farm advisory services are increasing their annual income by an
average of USD480 above the control group’s annual income
of USD932. Our Economic Research team hosted 21 senior
Myanmar leaders on a leadership program and trip to Jakarta
and Maluku to learn how Indonesia resolved their violent,
inter-communal conflicts..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
712.34 KB
more
Description:
"We had one of our strongest quarters ever, adding 39,673 new customers. As of our mid-year mark, we
have added 56,543 farm customers – on target to reaching 118,000 new customers by the end of the
fiscal year in June 2018.
Our Farm Tech business had a strong second quarter with 3,672 new farm customers purchasing one
of our irrigation products - a striking 81.5 percent YoY increase. Earned revenues totaled US$303,000
representing a YoY increase of 66 percent. We launched a new mist micro-irrigation product designed to
replace inefficient furrow irrigation on small horticulture plots of half an acre. We sold 138 “Lotus” solarpowered irrigation pumps compared to 28 unit sales during the same period last year. This quarter Ryan
McCoy assumed leadership of this business unit. He joins with extensive business and finance experience
and holds an MBA from Duke and a finance degree from MIT. Our Farm Advisory Services had another strong quarter with over 20,000 farmers attending a
technique training, given average uptake rates of 40-50 percent, we anticipate at least 8,000 new
farmers will adopt one or more of our techniques, hitting our target for the quarter (actual adopter
numbers are finalized after the rice season). Our field agronomists engaged farmers through 1,283
in-village presentations, which remain our primary service delivery channel. These field agronomists
are essential to our mission as they deliver technique advice, pest and disease solutions, and tailored
responses to farming challenges throughout the farming cycle. Across our 21 different townships, we’ve
reached an estimated 40 percent market penetration among farmers growing rice. Our year-end
target is to reach 48,400 new farmers and a total of 96,000 active adopting farmers.
Farm lending efforts added 14,709 new customers this quarter. Across our lending operations in 2,065
villages we now have 91,208 active customers. Our portfolio is now USD18.2 million with a PAR 30
delinquency rate of 0.36 percent. Savoeung Chann, our General Manager resigned this quarter after
two years of service. A three-person leadership team is overseeing management during the transition
period until a replacement is settled. The legal separation of Proximity Finance from Proximity Designs
continues to face delays from the government but is expected to be completed by April 2018.
Economic research efforts this quarter focused on deepening our analysis of the current situation
in Rakhine State and researching options for addressing the crisis of 650,000 refugees who fled to
Bangladesh. As conditions in the camps become more extreme with increased international pressure
and ongoing instability, the threat of a long-running internal, regional and international conflict is
growing. It is uncertain if either Bangladesh or Myanmar would agree to accept large numbers of
refugees as citizens, even with resettlement aid. Reversing the damage will take a multipronged effort
beyond the ability of any single country..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
723.76 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Overall, we added 15,087 new customers during the quarter, which was well below our target. A combination of
regulatory disruptions in our lending operations and depressed demand due to price increases in our irrigation
business contributed to this disappointing result. Year-to-date, we have added 71,630 new customers. During
this quarter, we launched one new agronomy service and have design teams working on two new services.
Farm Tech
We sold 6,543 irrigation products this quarter, led by our drip and sprinkler products. Year-to-date sales are up
13 percent over last year and we project being able to reach our year-end target of 28,000 sales. However, this
quarter’s sales came in below our targets due to the effects of a significant price increase we introduced on 1
January 2018 and some new competition in the market. Sales revenues for the quarter totaled US$218,000.
We have 86 sales reps (who achieved a 15 percent closing rate), 96 agro-dealers in our network and 220 active
village agents who helped 1,622 customers install their new irrigation products.
We’ve always viewed our strategy as a ‘market-maker’ for micro irrigation in Myanmar — and for the first time,
we’re seeing several local irrigation manufacturers and sales organizations enter the market. This has led us to
focus on introducing new irrigation technologies — such as our ‘mister’ product and low-cost, solar-powered
irrigation pump. To meet our affordability goals, we’re making our Yangon manufacturing plant operations
more efficient and sourcing more components from low-cost manufacturers.
Agronomy Services
During Q3 we added 6,217 new farmers, a 54 percent increase over the same period last year. These farmers
adopted at least one of the crop production techniques we promote across Myanmar’s Delta and Dry Zone
regions. The most popular service this quarter was advice on improving fertilizer application and management.
Year-to-date, 44,104 new farmers have been acquired and we anticipate reaching our target of 48,400 by the
end of our fiscal year in June. Since 2016, we’ve served 101,950 rice farmers.
The primary sales and service delivery channel is through village group meetings organized by our 98 field
agronomists. During this quarter, 1,954 village group meetings were held, attended by 19,997 farmers. At the
initial meetings, we’re able to achieve 30 percent adoption rates. Over several seasons in a given township,
this rate typically increases to over 50 percent. To lower our unit costs to serve, we have introduced an
SMS messaging service. This quarter, we have 6,208 digital subscribers. We trialled IVR (Interactive Voice
Response) messaging with a leading technology company but came to the conclusion that Myanmar’s telecom
infrastructure is not ready for it..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rice
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.28 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Our platform offerings revolve around three core service areas: 1) the provision of improved agronomy
practices/skills, 2) access to farm loans, and 3) affordable micro-irrigation systems. This quarter, 15,525 total
new farm customers used one or more of these services.
+Farm Advisory Services: This quarter, a total of 11,416 farmers used one of our agronomy services, of
which 7,534 were new customers, meeting 99 percent of our total customer target for the quarter. We are
currently targeting an ambitious goal of a total of 51,000 new adopters by the end of the year. We offer the
following advisory services: 1) rice seed cleaning, 2) precision planting (for rice seed) 3) nutrient (e.g. fertilizer)
management, 4) soil health management, and 5) crop protection services (to control pests & disease).
We currently employ 106 field agronomists who drive outreach and growth. Our field agronomists are launching our new Soil Health Diagnostic Service, offered at a price of USD4 per
acre. To date, we’ve sold 477 tests, 76% lower than our target. Our agronomy team has never launched this kind
of fee-for-service before, and is learning it takes up more field staff time than originally estimated.
+Micro-irrigation: This quarter is typically a slow time for irrigation product sales, as the period marks
the end of the monsoon season in Myanmar. 1,655 new farmers purchased one of our micro-irrigation
products, representing 16 percent growth year-on-year, and 91 percent of the quarter’s target. We are
targeting 10 percent annual growth this year or 12,743 farm customers.
This year, our irrigation product offerings include: micro-sprinkler systems, mister systems, drip systems, lay
flat hose and a treadle pump. We sold a total of 3,062 units of irrigation products, representing an 8 percent
y/y decrease, and earned sales revenue of USD 78,000 for the quarter. After 15 years of selling various models
of our original foot-operated pump, we are now selling only one treadle pump model this season. In recent
years, the market has shifted with the influx of affordable and portable motorized pumps from China replacing
the more labor-intensive treadle pumps. Thus, our products today focus on advancing irrigation efficiency in
water use. This quarter, we launched our newest product – a “Starter” Mister that customers can install for USD
10 for 1/10 acre . We are seeing strong demand largely due to the affordable price point.
We have a very capable, new General Manager leading the irrigation business, Seng Nu Pan. We are reducing
our in-house manufacturing work and shifting to sourcing components from new, higher quality, local suppliers
as well as importing more parts from Thailand and China. Assembly is still done in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Urban development, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
536.19 KB
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Description:
"Overall, we added 21,841 new farmers this quarter to our Yetagon farm services platform—slightly below
our target of 22,954. Our farm credit services and irrigation products saw strong y/y growth, but our agronomy
services missed our targets largely due to the slower than expected roll-out of our new revenue-generating soil
testing service. Our growth target this year is 82,000 new customers. Year to date, we’ve added 37,097
new farmers to a growing active user base of 214,215 farm customers. Our operating model is shifting to us
organizing more around our customer facing services and less on our separate business units.
Current Farm Services Offered:
+ Quality Seeds and Precision Planting: Rice seed cleaning services have been our most popular agronomy
service over the past several years. In many of the villages where we have introduced this technique, we’ve
achieved over 50 percent adoption within several seasons—a very high rate for a new innovation. Farmers are
typically able to achieve yield increases of 20-30 baskets per acre, which translates to yield improvement of
10 percent. Over the past three years we’ve been able to increase rice yields on over 430,000 acres.
+ Soil Health (testing) and Nutrient Management Services: During this quarter, we formally launched a new
Soil Testing service that provides plot-specific and actionable fertilizer recommendations before the planting
season to help rice farmers improve fertilizer efficiency and increase crop yields. We sold 1,516 tests to farmers
in Myanmar’s lowland Delta region. This was well below our target of 2,530 tests. Demand appears to be strong,
but internally the complexity of providing the new service slowed down the roll-out. We’re confident these
problems can be solved quickly and will expand the testing service to the upland Dry Zone region in Q3. For our
more general fertilizer application recommendations delivered through village meetings, we achieved 6,524
rice farmer adopters..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rice, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Urban development
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
769.7 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Overall, we added 15,803 new farmers this quarter to our customer base. Our growth target for this year
is 82,000 new customers, and to date we’ve added 53,487 new farmers. Our farm irrigation products saw
strong year-on-year growth, while our farm finance and agronomy advice services’ results were lower than
targeted. This quarter, our farm finance business was hampered by unexpected delays in receiving regulatory
approvals for overseas capital. Thus, we did not have sufficient loan funds to meet demand. Our agronomy
work had difficulty finding experienced and trained agronomy field staff, which has led to understaffing at a
time of planned expansion in advisory services. Our rural recruitment efforts have ramped up and our People
Operations team is improving onboarding processes to ensure new extension officers can be trained well and
quickly deployed.
Current Farm Services Offered:
+ Quality Seeds and Precision Planting: This quarter is typically not the rice planting season so we
anticipated low adoption of our rice seed cleaning practices. Only 624 farmers adopted during the quarter.
+ Soil Health Testing and Nutrient Management Services: As farmers prepare for the upcoming
monsoon rice growing season, they are investing in soil health testing. After a slower than expected start, sales
have picked up this quarter, with 1,886 customers buying our newly launched soil testing service, and a YTD
total of 4,059 sales—37 percent of our annual target. As expected, the sales closing rates for the soil tests were
high among farmers who had already used one of our other services; with a 40 percent closing rate among
our pest/disease on-call diagnostic service users and 34 percent among farmers who had adopted two of our
agronomy practices. We continue to improve the service delivery and sales skills of field extension officers, but
are one quarter behind on targets. We project soil test sales will reach 6,600 farmers by year end, which is 60
percent of our original first year target.
This quarter, 4,486 farmers adopted our free recommended crop fertilizer practices.
+ Crop Protection Services: Our crop protection service offers an on-call field visit service to rice farmers
year round. This quarter, we experienced a spike in requests, with our field agronomists responding to
3,194 farmers’ calls. Farmers request help to diagnose a pest or disease problem in their fields and receive a
recommended treatment protocol. There was an outbreak of thrip insect in the Ayeyarwady Delta this quarter.
Fortunately, the crop losses in such cases are preventable if caught early. We’ve found these on-call services
generate strong trust among farmers and help lay the groundwork for introducing other agronomy practices..."
Source/publisher:
Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Urban development
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"At the Thomson Reuters Foundation we act to promote socio-economic progress and the rule of law worldwide. We play a leading role in the fight against human trafficking. We use the skills, values, and expertise of Thomson Reuters to run programmes that trigger real change and empower people around the world. We tackle global issues. We achieve lasting impact..."
Source/publisher:
Thomson Reuters Foundation via Proximity Designs
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"The Rakhine Winter Crops Project (RWCP) is an ambitious programme to facilitate crop diversification, increased production and improved agricultural water management for the dry season in order to...
Description:
"The Rakhine Winter Crops Project (RWCP) is an ambitious programme to facilitate crop diversification, increased production and improved agricultural water management for the dry season in order to increase farmer incomes, employment and food security. RWCP operates in Thandwe, Taungup and Gwa Townships of Rakhine State, Myanmar. Key aspects of the 5-year NZ$11.5m programme include, among others:
The provision of Good Agriculture Practice training and applied research for farmers to diversify into more productive and profitable winter crops;
The implementation of a home garden program, particularly for landless farmers;
Strengthening the institutional capacity of government extension workers and Community Development Groups.
Sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and the Rakhine Yoma mountain range, Rakhine State is one of Myanmar’s least developed areas. Communities there confront a number of serious challenges, including malnutrition, poverty, conflict, weak infrastructure and susceptibility to extreme weather events. The majority of Rakhine’s population are reliant on subsistence agriculture. More than half of the rural population are landless and dependent on casual labour for employment and income..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) via Adam Smith International
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Water resources of Burma/Myanmar, Education in Agriculture
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"The International Fertilizer Development Center IFDC is accepting qualified applications for the five-year USAID-Funded Myanmar Agri-Food Systems Activity, which will facilitate the transformation...
Description:
"The International Fertilizer Development Center IFDC is accepting qualified applications for the five-year USAID-Funded Myanmar Agri-Food Systems Activity, which will facilitate the transformation of agriculture and food systems through increasing the productivity, inclusiveness, and competitiveness of key value chains.
The Senior Agricultural Specialist in Crop Agronomy and Soils will provide leadership in identifying appropriate good agricultural practices and farming technologies for various agricultural extension systems. They will manage and support sectors and sub-sectors of agricultural, agribusiness, and value chain development project interventions..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) via International Fertilizer Development Center IFDC
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Agricultural Land
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"“I won’t do agricultural work. As I will be a graduate, I will do work which is suitable and worth my educational level. We can rent out our lands to uneducated and landless villagers who can only do agricultural work.” – A 20-year old university student in FGD, Sagaing Region
This was the decisive reply I received from a university student in Si Pin Gyi village in Kalay Myo, when I asked if he would be a farmer like his father.[1] He is not the only one who doesn’t want to do agricultural work as his career. Nowadays, to be a farmer is like donkey-work for most youth, especially for the educated ones. In my interviews in the rural areas, interviewees said that they found agricultural work to be very tiring as well as low in income and value – particularly when comparing this with their educational qualifications.
The agricultural sector plays a vital role in Myanmar’s economy. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the agricultural sector in Myanmar contributes 37.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), accounts for 25 to 30 percent of total export earnings and provides jobs for 70 percent of the labour. It is significant that agricultural work has historically provided labourers in rural areas with numerous job opportunities. Moreover, according to the villagers I interviewed, there are now increasingly higher numbers and different types of other jobs available in their villages. The other option for them nowadays also includes migration, both internal and external. Due to my experiences with research in rural areas, I came to question whether the youth, the next generation of farmers, would choose to do agricultural work if they had other career options.
Last year, I went to the Delta region for research on the socio-economic conditions 10 years after Cyclone Nargis. I conducted qualitative research in 10 villages in the Delta region, doing key informant interviews and focus group discussions. There, I found out that many people – especially the youth – had left their villages, migrating for work. About half of the youth population in each village migrate as there are no other local job opportunities except agricultural work. In some villages, there are youth running small businesses, such as loudspeaker rental jobs.
“I don’t want to do agricultural work in farmlands with mud. I feel dirty and exhausted to do that. I wish I could have a chance to live and work in Yangon.” – 18-year old boy from a village, Ayeyarwaddy Region
He has a small snack shop in the village and is also seeking new opportunities in order to get a good job in Yangon. Parents from the rural areas often do not want their children to do exhausting work in the mud like them; many try to support their children’s education for a future job with better working conditions, such as working in a company, or in foreign countries..."
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Rice
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"A free app on farmer San San Hla's smartphone is her new weapon in the war against the dreaded stem borer moth that blighted her rice paddy in southern Myanmar for the last two years..."
Source/publisher:
AFP news agency
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Rice
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
antation owner say, after they pay their workers, there’s not much profit left.
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Practically isolated from the global market for 50 years, Myanmar is still largely dependent on agriculture. But the country is one of the most at risk from climate change and no one feels these pressures more than the rural smallholder farmers who make up the backbone of its food system and rural economy.
Shorter monsoons and rising temperatures mean severe droughts have become more frequent in recent decades. This has led to higher levels of saltwater intrusion in important rice growing territories and an increase in the risk of complete crop failure.
Proximity Designs is a social enterprise which was founded to provide farmers with low-cost, low-tech equipment to help them adapt and thrive in their changing environment.
They ensure their products are both affordable and suitable by employing a team of data-gatherers to conduct thorough research within the farming communities. And thanks to a network of some 900 scooter-driving "field agents", their products can even find their way to the most remote parts of the country.
Russell Beard travels to Myanmar to meet the innovators behind Proximity Designs and to see how their products and expertise are helping farmers stay one step ahead in a changing world..."
Source/publisher:
Al Jazeera English
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
IOM Myanmar collaborated with Democratic Voice of Burma to explore the ways in which migrants and their families cope with debt in the village of Taung Thar, Mandalay Region.
U Tun Kyaw
Source/publisher:
IOM Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
IOM Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Urban development, Children
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Local URL:
more
Tin Thoung, Nyein Thet Nwe, U Zaw Moe Aung, Zin Nyo Nyo Win
Source/publisher:
IOM Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-06-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
IOM Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Labour migration: global and regional studies, Labour migration: global and regional studies, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, Trafficking: Burma-specific material
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Local URL:
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Description:
"Agriculture accounts for 26 per cent of Myanmar’s GDP and employs almost half of the
country’s workforce.1 It is the primary source of
livelihood for most people living in rural areas.2
Migration for work is also common in Myanmar and growing even more so: the country’s
rapid growth in recent years has coincided
with a marked increase in both internal and
international migration. Migration is tightly
linked to agricultural work: many migrants
move from rural to urban areas and from agriculture to other employment sectors. This
trend is coinciding with a general transition in
Myanmar’s economy away from agriculture
and towards industry and services.
This briefing paper draws on findings from
the CHIME research project to look at how
agricultural work drives migration, and how
migration affects the agricultural sector. It
identifies opportunities for policymakers to
help make agriculture and migration
promote sustainable, equitable development..."
Source/publisher:
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date of publication:
2017-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
IOM Burma/Myanmar, Labour migration: global and regional studies, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agricultural Land, Burmese migrant workers
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.16 MB
Local URL:
more
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2017-11-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics
Language:
English
Format :
PDF
Size:
746.32 KB
more
Source/publisher:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Date of publication:
2019-03-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
815.22 KB
more
Susan Beccio
Source/publisher:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Date of publication:
2018-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Omer Zafar
Source/publisher:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Date of publication:
2017-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, ifda dossier (international foundation for development alternatives - IFDA)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.7 MB
more
Description:
"ES1 The Rakhine case study contributes to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) Myanmar Country Programme Evaluation (CPE) from 2011 to 2016. This case
study seeks to provide a collective picture of FAO emergency response interventions in
Rakhine State over the course of the programme period under review and inform future
emergency and recovery programming in the region...ES2 Central and northern Rakhine State (NRS) experienced recurrent natural disasters and
several intercommunity conflicts. The region’s population is generally divided into two
major religious groups further characterized by their ethnic origins. These differences, in
addition to other factors, have resulted in violent confrontations beginning in 2012, causing
loss of life and destruction of farms and infrastructure. Floods, mudslides and cyclones
along with the sporadic violence have displaced many households over the years. Those
who remain in their villages face similar risks, with limited attention and support services...ES3 The study covered six emergency and recovery/rehabilitation projects where FAO
responded to humanitarian emergencies brought about by disasters or conflict from 2011
to 2015 in six townships in central and northern Rakhine State. This includes: Buthidaung,
Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk U, and Sittwe. The study involved review of project
documents and consultations with various stakeholders in Rakhine, and interviews with
beneficiary households and communities...ES4 FAO’s response provided seeds for rice, pulses, ground nut, and vegetable, fertilizers,
bio-pesticides and agricultural inputs, livestock (cattle, goats, poultry), fishing gears and
equipment, rehabilitation of infrastructure, training in improved agro-technological and
livestock production...ES5 There is general positive feedback on the inputs provided by FAO in various projects
gathered from post-distribution surveys and group discussions. Among the positive
characteristics are the good quality in the rice, legume and vegetable seeds, fertilizers and
livestock (cattle and buffalo are more preferred for farming)...ES6 FAO’s strong partnership with the government provided needed support for its activities.
However, there is general weakness in FAO’s partnership with other development agencies
and civil society organization in Rakhine...ES7 The impact of FAO’s intervention has been in preventing farmers from spiralling into
further debt; however, the positive impact of FAO’s support remains short-term due to the
recurring shocks faced by communities over the course of a year. A number of the project
areas were beset with landslides, floods and saltwater intrusion due to strong wind and
rains during or immediately after project implementation...ES8 There is conscious effort in FAO implementation to target women, female headed
households and vulnerable groups with limited economic opportunities, especially in the
distribution of poultry and small ruminants. Communities appreciate the specific targeting
of landless, women and elderly...ES9 The impact of FAO’s intervention has been in preventing farmers from spiralling into further
debt. FAO-assisted communities have been more stable and are more able to re-engage in
their farming activities following shocks...ES10 FAO should explore developing a Rakhine programme focusing on building resilience of
Rakhine and Muslim agriculture communities. Through a programmatic approach, FAO
could address immediate and medium-term needs around emergencies and shocks while
addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability and contributing to social cohesion and
peacebuilding over the long-term..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2017-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.47 MB
more
Description:
"The FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) has been conducting country programme evaluations
since 2005 to provide accountability to member countries, national governments and
development partners, and draw lessons and suggestions for programme improvement.
Myanmar was selected as one of the countries in which to carry out a Country Programme
Evaluation (CPE) in 2016. The main factors that led the FAO Office of Evaluation (OED)
and Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) to select Myanmar are: i) the imminent
end of Myanmar’s Country Programming Framework (CPF) in 2016, and ii) the coincident
termination of the assignment of the FAO Country Representative.
Since February 2016 Myanmar has a new democratic Government, with a non-military
president. In this changing environment the CPE should contribute to support the new FAO
Country Representative and the Government in identifying the future strategic direction
of FAO programme in the country. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the evaluation are
the result of a preparatory phase, consisting of: a desk review of existing documentation,
a preliminary analysis of FAO’s portfolio of work in Myanmar, a contextual analysis and
scoping interviews with FAO staff at the country, regional levels and in headquarters.
The ToR also benefited from discussions held during the inception mission carried out
in December 2015. The evaluation team consulted with a wide range of stakeholders,
including government officials, donors, United Nations agencies, and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
The emphasis of the CPE will be on evaluating themes and issues important to the FAO
Programme in Myanmar. Individual projects will mostly not be evaluated in detail.
This ToR will be the guiding document for the Evaluation Team and will be shared with
counterparts in Myanmar, FAO staff in FAO Myanmar Country Office, FAO’s Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) and FAO headquarters. Their purpose is to provide
a description of the FAO Programme in Myanmar, identify key areas of work undertaken
over the past five years, define the scope of the evaluation and outline the evaluation work
plan. A set of overarching evaluation questions has been developed to further sharpen
the objective and inform the methodology to be employed at different stages of this
evaluation. The methodology and the evaluation tools will be further developed by the
team over the course of the evaluation..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2017-11-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
679.89 KB
more
Description:
"The fisheries and aquaculture sector in Myanmar is critically important to the country’s food and nutrition security and
economy. Climate change is forecast to have a significant impact on the sector. For capture fisheries (marine and
inland) these impacts include changes in sea surface temperature, higher inland water temperature, changes in ocean
currents, changes in the frequency of El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, sea level rise and changing levels of
rain and water availability. The aquaculture sector is also exposed to hazards such as salt-water intrusion, flooding of
ponds, shortages in water supply, invasive species and ad hoc development planning altering local ecosystem
dynamics and undermining their resilience, integrity and functionality. The fisheries sector and dependent livelihoods
are also under stress from a range of other factors such as Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing,
overfishing and pollution. Myanmar is vulnerable to extreme climate events, which have caused significant loss of life,
damage to infrastructure and also impacted fishers and fish farmers’ livelihoods..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-12-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
440.14 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In Myanmar the agriculture sector accounts for more than half national employment and the poultry population is large and growing and
had reached over 263 million by 2014 according to official national statistics. Demand for poultry products is not wholly satisfied by
domestic production, however, resulting in value chain activity across international borders with concomitant risk of zoonotic disease
incursion from neighbouring countries. FAO supports the Myanmar Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) to monitor virus
entry risk from informal poultry imports across the China border. China has reported highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPA) caused by
several influenza A virus subtypes, which has reported HPAI outbreaks with several influenza A subtypes.
In 2009, the threat of new infectious disease recognized to extend beyond the risk posed by avian influenza, and the USAID launched a
significant global programme on emerging pandemic threats referred to as EPT-1, that addressed pre-emergence, prevention and
preparedness.
Since 2007, FAO has worked in Myanmar with USAID support to enhance national capacity to prevent, detect and respond effectively to
HPAI. Through this partnership, Myanmar’s capacity has been strengthened. FAO work in this particular area is of the highest importance
considering that Myanmar has a very high annual rate of growth of animal product consumption.
The large majority of poultry is kept in backyard or small-scale commercial systems. Sporadic HPAI outbreaks have been reported in
Myanmar, the latest in March 2015. Myanmar is considered at high rish for incursion of avian influenza A (H7N9) from China. Since first
being identified in 2013, H7N9 has resulted in more confirmed fatalities in people in China than H5N1 since 2003. The project builds on
USAID-funded H7N9 prevention and preparedness activities initiated by FAO under a related project.
It will operate within the framework of two programmes: Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT2) and the Global Health Security Agenda
(GHSA)..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-12-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
661.28 KB
more
Description:
"Myanmar is at very high risk of continuing severe humanitarian needs
in 2018, according to the OCHA-managed Index for Risk Management
(INFORM) system. Inter-communal tensions, violence and natural disasters
have displaced large numbers of people in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States,
threatening the agricultural livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
Across the country, some 241 000 displaced people – of which 77 percent are
women and children – remain in camps or camp-like settings.
Myanmar is one of the most disaster-prone countries in Asia and remains
highly vulnerable to natural disasters, including cyclones, storms, floods
and earthquakes. Promotion of disaster risk reduction approaches that help
increase resilience of the most vulnerable populations remains critical.
Some 778 815 people need food security support. They face limited
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious foods and inadequate availability
of diversified foods all year round. Populations in need include displaced
people, returnees, vulnerable people in non-displaced communities and
host communities.
Small-scale farmers, livestock owners and fishers require agricultural
assistance including crop, livestock and fishery inputs, support for vegetable
gardening and infrastructure rehabilitation to enhance agricultural
production and productivity.
To enhance the resilience and promote the self-reliance of affected
communities, it is necessary to restore, protect and improve livelihood
opportunities to complement family income, improve economic access,
reduce the use of negative coping mechanisms and increase availability of
quality and diversified foods at community and household levels..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.02 MB
more
Description:
"The project introduced PGS to the participating countries, provided PGS-specific
training at national level, formed the trained farmers into PGS groups, linked
them to potential markets, buyers and consumers, organized media campaigns
and developed promotional materials to raise awareness on PGS and organic
agriculture, and created, in collaboration with IFOAM-Organics International,
the Global PGS map and registered the PGS groups on it. In order to do this,
13 participants (46 percent women) from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic and Myanmar were trained as master trainers through a regional training
of trainers event on PGS. These, in their turn, trained 255 farmers (44 percent
women) in Cambodia and 262 (56 percent women) in Lao People’s Democratic
Republic in PGS. At the end of the project, 96 farmers (58 percent women) in
Cambodia and 194 farmers (50 percent women) in Lao People’s Democratic
Republic were members of formed and operational PGS groups. The number of
regular consumers is estimated at 8 200 for Cambodia and 8 300 for Lao People’s
Democratic Republic. This translates into improved livelihoods for smallholder
farmers, and safe and fresh products for consumers. The project also made a
comprehensive assessment of the legal and regulatory environment in each
country.
Smallholder farmers in PGS groups have improved their selling conditions,
increased their income and improved their livelihoods. The volume of PGS
production in both countries is estimated to be more than 1 000 tonnes per year,
mainly of vegetables and fruit, representing a gross value of more than
USD 900 000 per year. Farmers now have the capacities and incentives to
continue to produce PGS-organic products and to market them through different
channels. Many farmers also reported more confidence in explaining to
consumers and buyers the benefit of PGS, and some farmers are now trainers
in their rural communities. Knowledge-sharing and empowerment are among
the benefits of working with PGS; for instance, facilitating organizations are
empowered and continue to support PGS in rural communities on their own
initiative. At national level, the participating governments are now developing
national documents that envisage the role of PGS as a verification system for
organic agriculture, especially for local and national markets..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2017-12-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security - global and regional literature
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
681.81 KB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI)
with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The project aims to facilitate and strengthen sustainable land management (SLM), sustainable
forest management (SFM), and climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The project facilitates the
adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) policies and practices that will help to sustainably
increase productivity, enhance resilience (adaptation), reduce/remove GHGs (mitigation) and
enhance achievement of national food security and development goals.
The project intends to establish a national CSA/SLM training program mainstreaming
CSA/SLM in the agriculture related training conducted by Department of Agriculture (DoA),
State Agricultural Institutes (SAI), Department of Agriculture Research (DAR) and Yezin
Agricultural University (YAU). The project will work with DoA, SAIs, DAR and YAU to
integrate CSA within their research, training and development programs. The training program
will vary with the need and nature of the institutions, for example;(1) one month training together
with other subjects for the in-service or refresher course at Central Agriculture Research and
Training Centre (CARTC), (2) one week intensive training of trainers (ToT) aiming for the
senior extension agents of DoA, DAR and YAU, (3) CSA component integrated into the course
for diploma students at SAIs, and (4) CSA component integrated into the course for bachelor
and master's level at YAU.
AVSI Foundation has been contracted to develop the Climate Smart Agriculture Curriculum and
Handbook to be introduced and incorporated as a course (subject) into the existing education
systems at different levels as mentioned above. This document will serve as the main
resource/reference book for professors/lecturers/teachers from the different Departments at
YAU to include the related topics on CSA into their courses for teaching the students..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
517.13 KB
more
Description:
"Welcome to the second issue of the FAO Myanmar Newsletter
in 2018 featuring highlights of FAO’s recent achievements
towards national priorities and global commitment to eradicate
hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in our life time. This
edition is now the sixth issue of our quarterly newsletter since it
started in March 2017! Having in mind that Myanmar is subject
to various challenges that can stress agricultural livelihoods and
undermine national food and nutrition security, much of our
recent work has focused on identifying the nexus between
climate change, natural disasters and poverty and how this
nexus can be best addressed for the benefit of the poorest
communities. FAO Myanmar remains committed to enhance
resilience of vulnerable communities through restoring,
protecting and improving livelihood opportunities. In May 2018,
a team of experts from FAO HQ, regional and country office, in
collaboration with WFP and with the support of the Government
of Myanmar, successfully conducted a mission to assess the
food security situation in Rakhine State. As forests constitute
the dominant ecosystem in Myanmar, with 44.2% of the
country’s land area, we have also continued actions to mitigate the impact of climate change through the establishment of the
National Forest Inventory System under the umbrella of the UN
-REDD Programme. With the aim of addressing the underlying
causes of malnutrition, we have been also supporting the
development of the Multi Sector National Plan of Action for
Nutrition (MS-NPAN) through “Food and Nutrition Security
Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation” (FIRST)
Programme, funded by FAO and the European Union. Finally,
recognizing the huge contribution of the livestock sector to
food security and the overall wellbeing of smallholders, we
have been supporting the development of policies and
guidelines to implement a national programme recognizing the
role of the Community Animal Health Workers (CHAW). While,
in the poultry sector we have also advanced in improving farm
biosecurity in Yangon Poultry Production Zone (PPZ) through
the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases
(ECTAD)..."
Xiaojie Fan
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.82 MB
more
Description:
"Happy Thadingyut and welcome to the third issue of FAO Myanmar
newsletter in 2018 featuring the most prominent activities of FAO in
Myanmar for the recent quarter!
During the previous quarter, FAO continued pursuing to reach its
sustainable development goals through the strong collaboration
with the government and resource partners. Recognizing the
relatively large, productive, and ecologically intact coastal zone of
Myanmar and understanding the requirement of conservation on
this valuable ecosystem, FAO’s EAF-Nansen Programme, with the
visit of the Research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen, conducted a survey
on the fisheries resources and marine ecosystem of Myanmar.
Myanmar is facing the global challenge of having enough quality
food for the total population and is also vulnerable to serious
natural disasters that negatively affect food security. As a
contribution of fighting against this challenge, FAO started off a
regional project on the Nutrition Sensitive Food and Agriculture that
will implement “Zero Hunger Challenge” in Myanmar.
Increasing and improving the provision of goods and services from
agriculture, forestry and fisheries is very important and essential for Myanmar’s sustainable development. The newly-launched
project of FAO at the Forest Research Institute will improve
research capacity and knowledge for sustainable management of
natural forests, which in turn, will enhance productivity of forest
plantations and restoration of degraded forests and landscapes.
Likewise, opening the “National Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)
Centre” will also help farming and forestry stakeholders in building
capacity to mitigate climate change and improve land condition.
At the same time, FAO is supporting the students from University
of Veterinary Science in the area of socio-economics through field
surveys as a support of providing graduates to work in rapidly
growing livestock sector of Myanmar.
FAO Myanmar remains committed to enhance resilience of
vulnerable communities through restoring, protecting and
improving livelihood opportunities. FAO is implementing a HARP
(DFID)-funded project in northern Rakhine State for the local
communities affected by the conflicts in 2017. The facilitation of
FAO during the observatory visit of British Ambassador to these
project sites is one of the highlights of this quarter..."
Xiaojie Fan
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-09-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security - global and regional literature, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
747.11 KB
more
Description:
"The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is a multilateral mechanism for the assistance of the
implementation of pledges by the G20 in Pittsburgh in September 2009, which is designed to improve incomes and food
and nutrition security in low-income countries by boosting agricultural productivity. In March 2017, the GAFSP Steering
Committee approved to allocate USD 27 million to Myanmar, of which USD 22 million will be administered by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and USD 5 million by FAO for technical assistance. The GAFSP initiative is a joint effort of ADB
and FAO building on complementarities and synergies in the interventions by the two agencies.
In the Central Dry Zone( CDZ) of Myanmar, nearly 25 percent of the population is under the national poverty line and about
50 percent are landless. The CDZ rural poor are also affected by a high incidence of malnutrition and food insecurity.
Stunting and wasting rates each range between 20-30 percent, with the highest incidence in dryland farming zones
compared with flood plain and irrigated areas. Over 50 percent of women age 15-49 years old are anaemic.
The theory of the implementation of the project is based on a premise that a market-driven approach is needed to help
smallholder farmers sustainably increase their income and improve their livelihood, food security and nutrition. For the
development of agriculture, tailored technical, infrastructural, credit access and organizational support are supposed to
increase the productivity and product quality of smallholder producers and disadvantaged rural groups involved in
commercially-oriented pulse and oilseed production and marketing systems. Those improved access and support also
benefit them from increased inclusion in profitable agriculture value chains through business relationships with other
private actors (traders, processors, exporters, etc.). As a results, the coordinated access and supports meet market
demands and, overall, contribute to national agricultural growth..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-09-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Food Security - global and regional literature
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
526.76 KB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI)
with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). AVSI Foundation has been
contracted to develop the National Farmer Field School (FFS) curriculum and FFS Handbook.
AVSI Foundation has developed a FFS curriculum/module on climate smart agriculture (CSA)
techniques/practices for each selected agricultural crop and for each of the three agro-ecological
zones incorporating solutions to the major problems identified during the need assessments and
also considering the findings of value chain analysis.
The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a learning process whereby a group of farmers come together
and engage in a process of hands-on field-based learning process over a season/ production cycle.
FFS is a time-bound learning by doing activity with a beginning and an end and aims to solve
the problems related to cultivating crops.
FFS is a platform for holistic learning, and should address issues and aspects that directly or
indirectly contribute to the performance of the local farming system, even if these issues are not
agriculture-based as such.
All FFS programmes need to integrate programming on gender equality and nutrition concerns
in FFS development. Gender norms, roles and customs are very relevant for FFS implementation
such as assessment and targeting of the specific needs of male and female farmers, selection and
gender awareness of facilitators, and composition of an FFS group (with adequate representation
of women and girls) and targeting the specific needs and priorities of men and women.
This module of FFS has been designed to increase agricultural productivity of the priority crops
in Chin State (Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships) by addressing the challenges identified during
the needs assessments based on knowledge systems and practices by FAO with support of AVSI
as a Service Provider. During the need assessment cultural barriers for FFS implementation,
gender norms, traditions, etc. were considered. Generally, it’s been observed that farmers, both
men and women, have low knowledge of climate smart agriculture (CSA). The learning
objectives of the proposed FFS modules are to: Empower farmers (both men and women) with knowledge and skills to improve the
productivity of their main crops.
• Sharpen the farmers’ ability to make critical and informed decisions that render their
farming profitable and climate-smart for both male and female farmers.
• To sensitize farmers in new ways of thinking and solve problems linked to climate
changes.
• Help farmers learn how to organize themselves and their communities, with a focus
on women and girls..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Chin State, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
319.43 KB
more
Description:
"The Asia-Pacific region is recognized for its important fisheries’ habitats and abundance of aquatic
resources; allowing the capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors to provide vital livelihoods and
food security throughout the region. However, the resources and the sustainability of the fisheries
are being threatened by inadequate, unsustainable fisheries and aquaculture management, high
fishing pressures, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), improper pesticides and feed
use, and competition with other users of the coasts and aquatic resources and zones; leading to a
state of overfishing and degradation of habitats and water quality and other negative impacts to
ecosystem services. Although sharing stocks of important commercial species countries are
struggling to manage resources and transboundary stocks through urgently required collaborative
fisheries management planning.
In addition, because of their location and type of livelihoods, fishers, fish farmers and coastal
communities are directly affected by the lack of uncertainty, changes in species and their
distributions, impacts on production and post-harvest practices, sea level rise, coastal erosion and
other natural hazards exacerbated by climate change, such as toxic algal blooms, floods, strong
wave surges and cyclones that destroy infrastructure and make the act of fishing and fish farming
more dangerous.
Through its extensive portfolio of TCP, UTF, GCP (bilateral and GEF) and the Blue Growth initiative,
the FAO supports and promotes the responsible and sustainable development of fisheries and
aquaculture as guided by the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
Our proven and successful work ranges from the development and implementation of International
Plans of Actions on IUU, fishing capacity, sharks, and seabirds; the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries
and Aquaculture; efficient and safe post-harvest practices; all the way through to responsible trade
and marketing of fish products.
The FAO fosters and supports the work of regional fisheries bodies, such as the FAO Indian Ocean
Tuna Commission and Asia Pacific Fisheries Commission. The FAO also plays a key role in the development of recent global fisheries instruments, such as the binding FAO Port State Measures
Agreement and the Voluntary Guidelines in support of Small Scale Fisheries.
New, GEF 7 projects are able to build upon existing development strategies (DoF, etc) and efforts of
a range of partners, including but not limited to:
Regional Bodies: FAO Asia-Pacific Fisheries Commission (APFIC), Bay of Bengal-IGO, The Network of
Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
(SEAFDEC), Mekong River Commission (MRC), Pacific Community (SPC), Secretariat of the Pacific
(SPC), Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), RPOA-IUU,
Regional Seas Programmes (COBSEA/PEMSEA)
Private Sector including CP, Thai Union, Mars, MSC and ASC..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-05-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security - global and regional literature, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
239.49 KB
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s economy relies on agriculture, including fisheries and forestry, and the sector accounts for nearly half of the
total economic output of the country and employs more than 60 percent of the total labor force. There are enormous
resources for the expansion and growth of aquaculture and culture based fisheries, nevertheless, the full potential for
further development of its contribution to food security, employment and rural and national economy has not yet been
fully realized and documented in Myanmar.
In the past, tilapia species were cultured in shallow, narrow and temporary water bodies and were targeted only for rural
populations. Nowadays the tilapia, particularly hybrid and mono sex species, are widely cultured in intensive farms as a
result of the high demand from local consumers and an increasing demand from restaurants and barbecue shops. Tilapia
culture in Myanmar is constrained by seed production and seed quality as well as other management problems.
Government hatcheries in 2012–2013 produced freshwater fingerlings and the main species were rohu (549.20 million),
tarpian (127.86 million) and common carp (45.58 million), whereas the tilapia seed production was 13.06 million, only
1.65% of total seed production of different kinds of freshwater fish species.
FAO has been involving in earlier normative field work of tilapia farming, in addition, recently implemented a number of
country field projects to improve seed production and farming practices of tilapia and other inland fish species in the
Philippines, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The implementation of the project will greatly benefit from the experiences, knowledge
and lessons gained from the implementation of the past relevant country projects..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
352.41 KB
more
Description:
"Livestock raising is an important source of income for smallholders all over the country, but especially in the Central Dry
Zone, due to its large available areas for livestock grazing. In this area, households raise cattle, sheep and goats, pigs
and poultry.
The recent rapid economic development of the country, and improved linkages to regional markets have increased the
demand for livestock products – meat, milk, and eggs, and this creates a great opportunity for household investment in
livestock.
While households can improve incomes through better livestock husbandry, it is only with improved government policies
and actions that the full potential of the sector can be reached, for example, those policies which enable Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) to deliver basic animal health services to smallholders throughout the country.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD)..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2018-12-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
725.61 KB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MONREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI)
with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). AVSI Foundation has been
contracted to develop the National Farmer Field School (FFS) curriculum and FFS Handbook.
AVSI Foundation has developed a FFS curriculum/module on climate smart agriculture (CSA)
techniques/practices for each selected agricultural crop and for three agro-ecological zones
incorporating solutions to the major problems identified during the needs assessments, also
considering the findings of the value chain analysis.
The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a learning process whereby a group of farmers come together
and engage in a process of hands-on field-based learning process over a season/ production cycle.
FFS is a time-bound learning by doing activity with a beginning and an end and aims to solve
the problems related to cultivating crops.
FFS is a platform for holistic learning and should address issues and aspects that directly or
indirectly contribute to the performance of the local farming system, even if these issues are not
agriculture-based as such.
All FFS programmes need to integrate programming on gender equality and nutrition concerns
in FFS development. Gender norms, roles and customs are very relevant for FFS implementation
such as assessment and targeting of the specific needs of male and female farmers, selection and
gender awareness of facilitators, and composition of an FFS group (with adequate representation
of women and girls) and targeting the specific needs and priorities of men and women.
This module of FFS has been designed to increase agricultural productivity of the priority crops
in Central Dry Zone (Nyaung-U and Kyaukpadaung), by addressing the challenges identified
during the needs assessment conducted based on knowledge systems and practices by FAO with
support of AVSI as a Service Provider. During the need assessment cultural barriers for FFS
implementation, gender norms, traditions, etc. were considered. Generally, it’s been observed
that farmers, both men and women, have low knowledge of climate smart agriculture (CSA).
The learning objectives of this module are to: Empower farmers (both men and women) with knowledge and skills to improve the
productivity of their main crops.
Sharpen the farmers’ ability to make critical and informed decisions that render their
farming profitable and climate-smart for both male and female farmers.
To sensitize farmers in new ways of thinking and solve problems linked to climate
changes. Help farmers learn how to organize themselves and their communities,
with a focus on women and girls..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.27 MB
more
Description:
"Fisheries co-management projects, bringing together fisher communities, government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and research organizations, represent the best opportunity for
developing and sustaining inland and delta fisheries in Myanmar. Each partner brings different
competencies, field-tested experiences and an extensive network of communities, service providers
and trading networks into the process.
Vulnerability can be defined as the extent to which an activity or a group of persons is exposed to a
hazard, and also the extent to which they are able to respond or adapt. It also includes socio-economic
characteristics (e.g. poverty and employment rates, age of the population, power dynamics). The
Participatory rural appraisal – Vulnerability study of Ayeyarwady Delta fishing communities in
Myanmar and social protection opportunities (PRA-V study) seeks to inform fisheries management
and social protection processes of the key vulnerability issues faced by fishers at the five pilot sites
selected for fisheries co-management. The five co-management sites are located in: Labutta, Pyapon,
Maubin, Hinthada and Thabaung townships (Figure 2). All sites have a t least one villa ge t ha t is
implementing a rudimentary form of fisheries co-management. Two of the sites (Labutta and Pyapon)
are in coastal saline areas, two are in freshwater areas (Hinthada and Thabaung) while the fifth site
(Maubin) is in an area inland that alternates between freshwater and brackish conditions..."
Aung Kyaw Thein, Richard Gregory, Michael Akester, Florence Poulain, Romain Langeard
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.8 MB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) with
funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The project aims to facilitate and strengthen sustainable land management (SLM), sustainable
forest management (SFM), and climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The project facilitates the
adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) policies and practices that will help to sustainably
increase productivity, enhance resilience (adaptation), reduce/remove GHGs (mitigation) and
enhance achievement of national food security and development goals.
The project intends to establish a national CSA/SLM training program mainstreaming CSA/SLM
in the agriculture related training conducted by Department of Agriculture (DOA), State
Agricultural Institutes (SAI), Department of Agriculture Research (DAR) and Yezin Agricultural
University (YAU). The project will work with DoA, SAIs, DAR and YAU to integrate CSA within
their research, training and development programs. The training program will vary with the need
and nature of the institutions, for example;(1) one month training together with other subjects for
the in-service or refresher course at Central Agriculture Research and Training Centre (CARTC),
(2) one week intensive training of trainers (ToT) aiming for the senior extension agents of DoA,
DAR and YAU, (3) CSA component integrated into the course for diploma students at SAIs, and
(4) CSA component integrated into the course for bachelor and master's level at YAU.
AVSI Foundation was contracted to develop the Climate Smart Agriculture Curriculum and
Handbook to be introduced and incorporated as a course (subject) into the existing education
systems at different levels as mentioned above. This document will serve as the main
resource/reference book for professors/lecturers/teachers from the different State Agricultural
Institutes to include the related topics on CSA into their courses for teaching the students..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
341.06 KB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) with
funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The project aims to facilitate and strengthen sustainable land management (SLM), sustainable
forest management (SFM), and climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The project facilitates the
adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) policies and practices that will help to sustainably
increase productivity, enhance resilience (adaptation), reduce/remove GHGs (mitigation) and
enhance achievement of national food security and development goals.
The project intends to establish a national CSA/SLM training program mainstreaming CSA/SLM
in the agriculture related training conducted by Department of Agriculture (DoA), State
Agricultural Institutes (SAI), Department of Agriculture Research (DAR) and Yezin Agricultural
University (YAU). The project will work with DoA, SAIs, DAR and YAU to integrate CSA within
their research, training and development programs. The training program will vary with the need
and nature of the institutions, for example;(1) one month training together with other subjects for
the in-service or refresher course at Central Agriculture Research and Training Centre (CARTC),
(2) one week intensive training of trainers (ToT) aiming for the senior extension agents of DoA,
DAR and YAU, (3) CSA component integrated into the course for diploma students at SAIs, and
(4) CSA component integrated into the course for bachelor and master's level at YAU.
AVSI Foundation has been contracted to develop the Climate Smart Agriculture Curriculum and
Handbook to be introduced and incorporated as a course (subject) into the existing education
systems at different levels as mentioned above. This document will serve as the main
resource/reference book for the trainers to include the related topics on CSA into their courses for
teaching..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
377.97 KB
more
Description:
"Dear Readers,
Welcome to the first FAO Myanmar newsletter of
2019!
In 2019, FAO will continue its strong support to
the Government of Myanmar and its people. At
the start of the year, the new Country
Programming Framework (CPF) for Myanmar
outlining the priority areas of FAO support to and
partnership with the Government for a six-year
period was signed. FAO Assistant DirectorGeneral and Regional Representative for Asia and
Pacific joined the CPF signing ceremony as well
as observed the on-ground situation of FAO
projects in the country.
With the new framework of partnership, FAO will
extend its assistance to the Government to
achieve three main goals. The first is enhanced
food security, nutrition and food safety. The
second is strengthened governance and
sustainable management of land, forests, water
resources and ecosystems. The third relates to
enhanced resilience of local communities and
farming households to natural and humanitarian disasters, climate change and transboundary and
emerging infectious disease risks. The achievement
of these three goals will be closely linked to our
support in the accomplishment of the
Government’s strategies such as: the Multisectoral National Plan of Action for Nutrition (MSNPAN), the Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS)
and the Myanmar Action Plan for Disaster Risk
Reduction (MAPDRR). Through all the efforts that
are being put in place, FAO aspires to see economic
growth and political stability in Myanmar.
FAO Myanmar remains committed to contribute
to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in
the country more specifically, the Myanmar
Sustainable Development Plan through a strong
collaboration with the Government counterparts,
donors, and development and humanitarian
partners.
I wish you all a happy Myanmar New Year!
Enjoy reading our Newsletter!..."
Xiaojie Fan
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.23 MB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI)
with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). AVSI Foundation has been
contracted to develop the National Farmer Field School (FFS) curriculum and FFS Handbook.
AVSI Foundation has developed a FFS curriculum/module on climate smart agriculture (CSA)
techniques/practices for each selected agricultural crop and for each of the three agro-ecological
zones incorporating solutions to the major problems identified during the need assessments and
also considering the findings of value chain analysis..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
319.01 KB
more
Description:
"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a project
entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar
(SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI)
with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The project aims to facilitate and strengthen sustainable land management (SLM), sustainable
forest management (SFM), and climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The project facilitates the
adoption of CSA policies and practices that will help to sustainably increase productivity,
enhance resilience, reduce/remove GHGs and enhance achievement of national food security
and development goals. At field level, the project is active in five pilot Townships from three
different agro-ecological zones implementing various relevant CSA initiatives mainly using
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) models.
Upland/hill Pilot Site: Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships, Chin State
Coastal/Delta Zone Pilot Site: Laputta Township, Ayeyarwady Region
Central Dry Zone Pilot Site: Kyaukpadaung and Nyaung U Townships, Mandalay Region
AVSI Foundation was contracted as a Service Provider to develop the FFS curriculum and FFS
Handbook for each of the above mentioned three agro-ecological zones. Accordingly, the FFS
curriculum/module on CSA techniques/practices for the prioritized agricultural crops and
cropping systems under each of the three agro-ecological zones have been developed
incorporating solutions to the major problems identified during the need assessments and also
considering the findings of value chain analysis. After finalizing the FFS curriculum, a FFS
handbook has been developed for each agro-ecological zone both in Myanmar and English
version. This handbook is intended to help the Extension Workers, FFS Facilitators and FFS
Committee/farmers to implement FFS on CSA techniques and practices in costal/delta Region
and scaling up the learnings in similar areas of Myanmar..."
Ms. Xiaojie Fan
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
6.02 MB
more
Description:
"The share of agriculture in the gross domestic product (GDP) of some countries in the AsiaPacific region has declined in recent years as their economies transition from agrarian to
industrial and service-oriented; however, agriculture is still important in terms of employment
and its role as a buffer in phases of deceleration in other sectors. Agricultural biotechnologies
have the potential to enhance the contribution of agriculture to these countries’ economies.
This study presents overviews of the applications adopted by countries in the Asia-Pacific
region and the main gaps in applications, capacities and enabling environments, and makes a
few suggestions about what could be done for better utilization of agricultural biotechnologies
in the region..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Food Security - global and regional literature, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.7 MB
more
Description:
''I had persistently been writing about the causes of the climatic change and its impact and consequences on our planet: the environments, ecosystems, humans and other living things in general. However, I have never mentioned their impacts on Myanmar in particular, until lately. In my previous article "The climate change is becoming more pronounced" (25 May GNLM), on the suggestion of the Acting Chief Editor of the Global New Light of Myanmar daily, I briefly touched on that subject. That idea intrigued me to further write in more detail along that trend.
In doing so, I'll have to rely on the observations made by the Myanmar Climate Change Alliance (MCCA). This organization was launched in 2013 with the support of the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) and is being implemented by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment).
From the observations made on the past, the on-going and future climate changes will have many consequences in Myanmar, mainly on the economic, productive, social and environmental sectors. For instance, the increased temperatures is having a large impact on sectors such as agriculture; for example in the Dry Zone. Many people have been forced to migrate and find new sources of income as a result of changing rainfall patterns and pest infestations. The MCCA Programme studied the perception of these hazards in five states and regions, based on data from 23 townships. More precisely, if their projections for climate change are correct, the following impacts are either already happening or foreseeable: ...''
Khin Maung Myint
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Water Portal via The Global New Light Of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2018-06-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-04-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Myanmar climate change networks, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''One of Myanmar's most important lakes and cultural sites is under assault from development and climate change. One man is trying to turn things around. Listen to the radio story: https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-10/myanmars-inle-lake-just-one-small-body-water-man-dedicating-his-life-saving-it ...''
Katie Arnold
Date of publication:
2017-03-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar reports to international bodies and mechanisms, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing)
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Shifting cultivation is a form of agro-forestry in which the cultivation of annual agricultural crops is combined with fallowing long enough for trees to grow before the plot is cultivated again. Why is shifting cultivation so controversial, and why do different stakeholders hold such divergent views - for some a valuable and honourable tradition but for others virtually a criminal activity?..."
''ဤစိုက်ပျိုးရေးစနစ်သည် ကမ္ဘာတစ်လွှား တွင်တွင်ကျယ်ကျယ် ပျံ့နှံ့ရေပန်းစားတဲ့ စနစ်တစ်ခုဖြစ်နေဆဲဖြစ်သည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ လက်လုပ်လက်စား ကျေးလက်နေလူထုလူတန်းစား သန်းပေါင်းများစွာသည် ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင် ယာစနစ်ကို ပင်မအသက်မွေးဝမ်းကျောင်း လုပ်ငန်းတစ်ရပ်အနေဖြင့် မျိုးဆက်တစ်ဆက်ပြီးတစ်ဆက် လက်ဆင့်ကမ်းကျင့်သုံးလာခဲ့ကြခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ ယနေ့အချိန်ထိလည်း နိုင်ငံတစ်နံတစ်လျားရှိ ရပ်ရွာအသိုက်အဝန်းနှင့် အိမ်ထောင်မိသားစုပေါင်းများစွာ၏ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာဖူလုံရေးကို ဆက်လက်ထောက်ပံ့ပေးနေဆဲဖြစ်သလို တောင်သူတွေကိုယ်၌လည်း ယဉ်ကျေးမှုအမွေအနှစ်တစ်ရပ်အဖြစ် ဆက်လက်ထိန်းသိမ်းတန်ဖိုးထားနေကြဆဲဖြစ်သည်။
သို့သော်လည်း ၁၉ ရာစုအစောပိုင်းမှစ၍ နိုင်ငံအစိုးရအမြောက်အများက ၎င်းတို့လိုလားနှစ်ခြိုက်သည့် အတည် တကျစိုက်ပျိုးရေးပုံစံထက် သိမ်နုပ်သည့် စနစ်တစ်ရပ်လို စတင်ရှုမြင်လာခဲ့သည်။ ထိုအမြင်သဘောထားမျိုးဖြင့် ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင်ယာစနစ်ကို ဆိုးရွားလွန်းသဖြင့် အမြစ်ပြုတ်မြေလှန်ဖယ်ရှားရန် လိုအပ်သည့် ပြဿနာတစ် ရပ်ကဲ့သို့ ပုံဖော်လာခဲ့သည်။ အမြဲတမ်းလိုလို ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင်ယာစိုက်ပျိုးရေးစနစ်ကို သစ်တောပြုန်းတီးစေ သည့် အဓိကမောင်းနှင်အားတစ်ရပ်အဖြစ် ဝေဖန်ပြစ်တင်လေ့ရှိပြီး အစိုးရဌာနများက အမြဲတမ်းလိုလို အနားပေးစိုက်ကွက်များကို ‘စွန့်ပစ်မြေ’ သို့မဟုတ် ‘မြေဖျင်း’ဟု ခေါင်းစဉ်တပ်သိမ်းယူကာ အခြားသောမြေယာအသုံး ပြုမှုပုံစံများအတွက် လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်ပြန်လည်ချပေးလျက်ရှိသည်။ ဤကဲ့သို့သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များက ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင်ယာစိုက်ပျိုးလျက်ရှိသည့် နယ်မြေဒေသအများအပြားကို ဆင်းရဲနွမ်းပါးမှု၊ ဆုံးရှုံးနစ်နာမှုနဲ့ ပဋိပက္ခများဆီသို့ ဦးတည်တွန်းပို့လျက်ရှိသည်။
ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင်ယာက ဘာကြောင့်ဒီလောက်ထိ ဝိရောဓိဖြစ်နေရသလဲ။ မတူကွဲပြားတဲ့ အကျိုးပတ်သက်ပါ ဝင်သူတွေရဲ့ အမြင်သဘောထားတွေ ဘာကြောင့်ဒီလောက်ထိ ကွဲလွဲနေကြသလဲ။ တစ်ဖက်က လေးလေးစား စားတန်ဖိုးထားကျင့်သုံးနေတဲ့ ရိုးရာဓလေ့တစ်ခုဖြစ်နေပေမယ့် အခြားတစ်ဖက်ကတော့ ရာဇဝတ်မှုကျူးလွန်တဲ့ ပြစ်မှုတစ်ခုလိုဘဲ သဘောထားနေကြတာ ဘာကြောင့်လဲ။...''
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Shifting ("swidden", "jhum", "taungya", "kaingin") cultivation - regional and global, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.78 MB 416.47 KB
more
Description:
''The Thai government voted last week to ratify the International Labor Organization Convention on Work in Fishing (No 188). Thailand is the first Asian country to ratify the convention, which was first adopted by the international labor group more than a decade ago.
Rights and labor organizations have been pushing for Thailand and many other Asian nations to ratify Convention No 188, which sets a standard for working conditions on fishing vessels and is seen as an important step toward eliminating labor abuses in the supply chains of international brands that get seafood from Thailand.
The Thai Seafood Working Group has made advocating for Thailand to ratify Convention 188 a top priority for 2018.
The move was described as a welcome development by Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), but she said Thailand – which has faced possible trade sanctions by the European Union because of years of gross abuses by fishing and fish-processing companies based in the kingdom – still had more to do..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of publication:
2018-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"This note seeks to contribute to the ongoing debates
around the revision of Myanmar?s 2012 Farmland Law. It
summarizes key findings of research conducted in the
main fish farming areas of Myanmar on the relationship
between aquaculture (fish farming) and land use. It makes
recommendations for the revision of land use regulations
that would allow aquaculture to develop in a manner that
benefits small producers and yields more equitable
outcomes.
Aquaculture is a high value activity in comparison with
paddy, Myanmar?s most important crop in area terms.
Average returns per acre from farming fish are several
times higher than those from farming monsoon or dry
season paddy ($655/acre versus $98/acre and $126/acre,
respectively..."
Source/publisher:
Michigan State University (MSU) & Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy
Date of publication:
2017-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2018-03-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
419.47 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Across Southeast Asia, agricultural growth has historically been a major driver of overall economic growth and poverty reduction (Christiaensen, Demery, and Kuhl 2011).
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all enjoyed rapid agricultural growth as part of their successful development over the past several decades. Given broad similarities in the economic structures of these countries in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in comparison with Myanmar today, the historical evidence suggests that rapid agricultural growth in Myanmar has the potential to be the engine for broad-based economic growth and poverty reduction. Moreover, the current democratic reforms in Myanmar create opportunities for development of agricultural and economic policies for greater food security and poverty reduction.Official statistics indicate that agriculture is the largest economic sector in the country,accounting for nearly 43 percent of GDP and providing the main source of livelihood for nearly 70
percent of the population (Haggblade et al 2013). Agricultural productivity in Myanmar is low compared with most of Southeast Asia, which partially explains the disparity in relative incomes
across the countries. Raising Myanmar?s productivity to the level of its agro-ecologically similar neighbors, and thereby spurring rapid agricultural growth, could significantly raise rural incomes and reduce overall poverty..."
Source/publisher:
Michigan State University (MSU) & The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Date of publication:
2015-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2018-03-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.08 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"After nearly three decades of isolation from the world economy, Myanmar is moving forward with political and economic reforms. As a result of this political and economic transformation Myanmar has tremendous opportunities for growth. Although agriculture accounts for the largest share of employment in Myanmar, its contribution to GDP is small. Myanmar?s agriculture value chains are under developed; smallholder capacity is low and investment in the agriculture sector has been limited. At the same time, Myanmar?s geographic position and climate make agriculture a potential driver for growth and development. In
particular, Myanmar is well positioned to become a large exporter of rubber.Large parts of the high rainfall areas in eastern and southeastern Myanmar are well-suited for rubber cultivation. Following a gradual liberalization of the agriculture sector in the 1990s and a surge in rubber prices in international markets in the 2000s, there was a surge in smallholder investment. Although yields remain low, they have risen substantially over the past two decades..."
Source/publisher:
Joanna van Asselt, Kyan Htoo, and Paul Dorosh
Date of publication:
2016-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2018-03-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
382.55 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The purpose of this policy brief is to provide national and
state-level policymakers, private sector investors, civil society and donors with an analysis of the rural economy of Mon State and pathways to improved prosperity for its population. The analysis is based on a representative survey (the Mon State Rural Household Survey 2015) of 1680 rural households, which comprise 73% of Mon State?s 2 million residents, and extensive interviews with farmers, traders, processors, local leaders and government
officials..."
Source/publisher:
Michigan State University (MSU) & Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy
Date of publication:
2016-06-30
Date of entry/update:
2018-03-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Activism and Advocacy (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications)
Language:
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