Myanmar

Agriculture is a major sector of Myanmar’s economy, accounting for almost 60% of total employment, but productivity remains low for both food and cash crops, and good agricultural practices are not always well known and taken on board by farmers. There is therefore growing concern about food security and environment-friendly farming practices. CIRAD is therefore involved in activities seeking to support the development of more sustainable and inclusive food and farming systems. Myanmar is also one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. This vulnerability affects the socio-economic conditions of farmers. The challenge for Myanmar is to continue reducing poverty, especially in rural areas where 70% of the population live, ensure inclusive growth and promote environment-friendly agriculture. As Myanmar has great potential to benefit from value chain improvement and access to global markets, CIRAD, along with its partners, has developed multidisciplinary projects to exploit that potential and reduce the vulnerability of households.

Southern Shan state, sweet pepper picker. © Isabelle Vagneron, CIRAD
Southern Shan state, sweet pepper picker. © Isabelle Vagneron, CIRAD

Main research areas

Rubber growing and the natural rubber value chain
Development of more sustainable and inclusive food and farming systems.

Key figures

2 current projects
2 missions per year

Since the military coup in 2021, CIRAD’s activities have been considerably reduced. Thus, Myanmar’s participation in the regional ASSET, FORSEA, Geographical Indications (GI) and FSPI "One Health in practice in Southeast Asia" projects has not been possible as planned, but two actions are being followed up by CIRAD with local NGOs:

Support for the natural rubber value chain

The Myanmar GRO project (Generating Rubber Opportunities in Myanmar)

This development project is led by CARE International in Myanmar and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The aim is to improve the living conditions of rubber smallholders and tappers by supporting the development of an institutional framework that enables the rubber sector to become more competitive and resilient. Following several short missions starting in 2017, CIRAD was associated in 2019 as co-facilitator of the project, with the arrival of a researcher from the ABSys joint research unit in Rangoon (however, she had to leave the country after the military coup in February 2021 and move to Bangkok). She remained responsible for monitoring the extended phase of the project up to the end of 2022 from Thailand, with a strong reorientation towards humanitarian/emergency aid and, at the same time, maintaining the initial approach for developing market systems by relying more on partnerships with the private sector.

Find out more : Generating Rubber Opportunities in Myanmar

Support for agricultural value chains in Myanmar

Agricultural Innovation and Inclusive Value Chains for Food and Nutrition Security in Myanmar

This project (Alive-FNS) proposed by GRET and CIRAD was selected by the European Union for delegated funding from AFD. It was initially based on integration between a supply chain approach, a nutrition approach (Linking Agriculture and Natural Resource Management towards Nutrition Security, Lann+) and an agroecological approach, to ensure that agricultural development also means improvements in the nutritional status of the target populations. It was meant to be conducted in two highland areas: northern Chin State and southern Shan State. Following the coup, the project (which was launched in October 2021) ultimately focused on market gardening and konjac in northern Chin State, and on rice in the Irrawady Delta. It has been completely reorganized, with research operations being redeployed towards helping local populations (distribution of seed kits, payment for work). Activities began in year 1 with GRET and the Myanmar partners. This project is monitored by a researcher from the Moisa joint research unit and involves two researchers from the Tetis (remote sensing) joint research unit in Montpellier.