28 research outputs found
Rural off-farm incomes in Myanmar’s dry zone
No full textOur study offers the following important findings relating to off-farm incomes in the Dry Zone: 1. Off-farm activities are a major source of income. Only 31% of Dry Zone income is generated directly from farming; off-farm self-employment is equally as important. Non-farm enterprises account for 20% of income, and remittances 15%. 2. Agriculture is central to rural employment. Fiftyeight percent of working-age individuals consider farming or agricultural labor to be their primary occupation, and agricultural labor is by far the most important secondary occupation. 3. Women and men work off-farm in similar numbers, but men earn higher wages. The gender wage gap is most pronounced in casual employment. There is less gender disparity in wages for non-farm work than for on-farm work. 58% of non-farm enterprises are run by women. 4. Non-farm enterprises are growing rapidly. Since 2011, the numbers of retail stores more than doubled, agricultural trading and processing trebled, and rental services providers more than quadrupled. Non-farm income is the most important source of startup capital for these businesses. 5. Most of businesses are self-operated microenterprises. The vast majority hire no labor. The rural non-farm economy is not yet a major provider of jobs, other than to business proprietors themselves.Non-PRFeed the Future Innovation Laboratory for Food Security Policy (FSP); IFPRI5DSG
SMS Alarm System for Weather Station using Arduino and GSM Module
No full textNowadays, the monitoring of weather is utilized to make many important decisions on a daily routine. So, by using one of the technologies, this alarm system is designed for real time weather station using Arduino and GSM module. This real time weather station is to send the LCD display and the alert to the user via short message sending SMS in the wake of a critically of an event which is predefined by the user. One of the important applications of the system is to send the alarm message to the defined mobile phone number. This system is to be convenient for monitoring the weather conditions without manual efforts. Ma May Zin Oo | Dr. Nay Win Zaw | Daw Khin San Win "SMS Alarm System for Weather Station using Arduino and GSM Module" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-5 , August 2018, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd18186.pd
Agricultural value chains in a fragile state: The case of rice in Myanmar
No full textThe large majority of extreme poor in the world lives in fragile states. Yet, despite the enormous importance of these areas for global poverty and food insecurity, there is relatively little research examining how agricultural value chains, crucial for assuring food security, respond and adapt to such contexts. This paper analyzes Myanmar’s rice value chain – its most important staple and biggest value chain – during the economic collapse and political instability caused by a military coup in early 2021. It relies on unique data collected with a large sample of rice retailers and millers before and after the coup. Despite many challenges in the rice value chain after the coup – most importantly linked to banking and transport – rice processing and trade continued, assuring availability of rice in most retail markets and illustrating the resilience of the value chain to such major shock. While processing margins were mostly stable, an increased distribution margin (between rice millers and retailers) led to 11 percent higher average retail prices after the coup, implying welfare losses of almost USD 0.5 billion for the country. Using a market-pair regression method, we further find that localized violence near sellers and buyers, distances traveled, and distance of vendors from borders are associated with significantly increased rice price dispersion between rice retailers and mills. Despite the amalgam of problems to address in such settings, prioritizing the easing of transport restrictions and facilitating cheap and safe spatial arbitrage of food products would likely help prevent further food price inflation, assure higher farm prices, and therefore improve welfare.PRIFPRI3; CRP2; ISI; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; IFPRIOA; MyanmarSSP; DCADevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategies; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Results from cognitive testing in Myanmar
No full textWhen designing and evaluating policies and projects for women’s empowerment, appropriate indicators are needed. This paper reports on the lessons learned from two rounds of pretesting and cognitive testing of the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) in a total of five States/Regions in Myanmar. We assess if respondents understand the modules as intended and which questions require modification based on the cultural context. We find that the questions also present in the abbreviated WEAI are generally well understood, particularly on instrumental and group agency. The challenge to respond to hypothetical and abstract questions did become apparent in the domains representing intrinsic agency, and was problematic for questions on autonomy and self-efficacy. Also, the internationally validated questions on attitudes towards domestic violence were too abstract, and responses depend on the scenario envisioned. We also suggest including an adapted version of the module on speaking up in public, to reinforce the domain on collective agency. Our findings provide an encouraging message to those aspiring to use pro-WEAI, but emphasize the need for continued attention for context-specific adjustments and critical testing of even those instruments that are widely used and deemed validated.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture IndexDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Yangon peri-urban poultry farmers - Early June 2020 survey round
No full textBetween 2010 and 2015, consumption in Myanmar of chicken and eggs increased by 72 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Whereas consumption of most other meats fell during this period, chicken had become the most common meat consumed in Myanmar by 2015. An important reason for this growth is that chicken and eggs were the only major animal-source foods for which real retail prices decreased in recent years. In addition, chicken and egg production is of growing importance to human nutrition in Myanmar - chicken and chicken eggs, together with fresh milk, were the only animal-source foods for which consumption by low income households increased substantially between 2010 and 2015. However, demand for chicken suffered a double hit in 2020 - first from a salmonella outbreak in January that reduced consumer demand, followed immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic. To shed light on the impact of these shocks to this critical sector, a series of phone surveys were conducted. This research note seeks to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of the Government of Myanmar and agricultural sector stakeholders to (1) understand the challenges that poultry farms have faced since the outbreak of COVID-19; (2) learn about adaptations and changes poultry farms are making in response to those challenges; and (3) track input procurement and marketing activities, including quantities and prices.Non-PRIFPRI1; MyanmarSSP; CRP2; MAPSA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
A gender-transformative response to COVID-19 in Myanmar [in Burmese]
No full textNon-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; MyanmarSSP; MAPSADSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Myanmar migration in a time of transformation: 2011-2020
No full textRural out-migration to both domestic and international destinations counts among the key phenomena that defined a decade of transformation in Myanmar from the 2011 economic reforms until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We analyze data from four surveys conducted in different areas of rural Myanmar from 2015 to 2018, along with relevant literature, to highlight trends in migration and its contributions to economic growth and rural development. Studied areas include Mon State, as well as parts of the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Central Dry Zone, and Shan State.Non-PRIFPRI1; MyanmarSSP; CRP2; MAPSA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
A gender-transformative response to COVID-19 in Myanmar
No full textOn 27 April, the Myanmar Government published the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) which aims to mitigate COVID-19’s impact on the macroeconomic environment and the private sector and to ease the impact on laborers, workers, and households. The CERP action plan should pay explicit attention to gender discrepancies to avoid unintentional harm or aggravating existing gender inequalities.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; MyanmarSSP; MAPSADSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Urban food retailers - Early July 2020 survey round
No full textTraditional family owned retail shops are the backbone of Myanmar’s consumer market. As the final node in the grocery supply chain, they sell all types of dry foods, i.e., processed and packaged, condiments, snacks, and beverages to final consumers. To some extent, they also supply basic staple grains, i.e., rice and pulses; dairy products; eggs; kitchen crops; and tobacco and alcohol. About 85 percent of all consumer goods in Myanmar are sold through these shops. In the food and grocery sector, these retail outlets, including wet markets, account for 90 percent of all sales, with the other 10 percent accounted for by fast-growing supermarkets. Because of the importance of traditional retail outlets in the last mile delivery of a wide variety of foods to consumers, any challenges they encounter from the COVID-19 crisis and corresponding policy responses to contain the virus have important implications for the availability and affordability of food for final consumers. This policy note is the first in a series of reports presenting results from rounds of a telephone survey of a sample of owners or managers of food retail shops located in the two largest cities in Myanmar, Yangon and Mandalay. The phone surveys are designed to provide a better understanding of the effects of COVID-19 shocks on Myanmar’s agri-food marketing system through the perspective of small-scale food retailers in urban areas. This policy note focuses on the demand side and overall business effects of the COVID-19 crisis on these food retailers. Phone interviews were conducted with 426 retail shop owners or managers between 8 and 15 July 2020. Eighty percent of those surveyed were in Yangon, with the rest in Mandalay.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; MAPSA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; MyanmarSSPDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Myanmar migration in a time of transformation: 2011-2020 [in Burmese]
No full textRural out-migration to both domestic and international destinations counts among the key phenomena that defined a decade of transformation in Myanmar from the 2011 economic reforms until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We analyze data from four surveys conducted in different areas of rural Myanmar from 2015 to 2018, along with relevant literature, to highlight trends in migration and its contributions to economic growth and rural development. Studied areas include Mon State, as well as parts of the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Central Dry Zone, and Shan State.Non-PRIFPRI1; MyanmarSSP; CRP2; MAPSA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesMTID; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
