COVID-19 impacts on smallholder farmers in Northern Shan State in Myanmar PDF Download

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9251348820
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
Report on how the first wave of COVID-19 impacted on smallholder farmers in northern Shan State in Myanmar. The study examines the interactions of reduced border trade, remittances and contracted labour markets on household food security, nutrition and land tenure. In turn, tenure insecurity in rural areas may deepen the effects of COVID-19, as most rural people struggle to sustain their livelihoods through access to land and other natural resources. This is relevant as many ethnic groups in northern Shan State continue to manage their land through customary tenure systems that are not fully recognized by state authorities.

Author: Boughton, Duncan
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 11

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Book Description
There is an urgent need to anticipate and mitigate the threat posed by COVID-19 to Myanmar’s agricultural sector and to rural households that depend on farming for income and for food and nutrition security. We evaluate options to address the threat and to support farmers to prepare their land and plant their crops on time in the short window before the start of the 2020 monsoon cropping season. Recognizing that no single intervention can address the full range of vulnerabilities faced by rural households, we recommend a combination: • Expansion of access to seasonal farm credit with extended loan repayment schedules; • Limited agricultural input subsidies targeting certified seed; and • Implementation of a cash transfer program to smallholder farmers. Despite the high cost of a cash transfer program, there are good reasons to expect that the benefits of such support to farm households will outweigh program costs in monetary terms – even more so if the economic benefits from the consequent lower incidence of malnutrition to which the program would contribute can be measured.

Author: Takeshima, Hiroyuki
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
Agricultural mechanization service providers (MSP) are crucial to enabling smallholder farmers to undertake a range of power-intensive farm and post-harvest operations in a timely manner. These operations are important for food production and farm income. MSPs are capital-intensive operations. The economic viability of these businesses is highly sensitive to capacity utilization, which generates the cash flow needed to repay equipment loans; to prices of imported capital goods, including machines, equipment, and fuels; and to the availability of machine operators, among others. Hence, the operations of MSPs are sensitive to restrictions on mobility and trade. The COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, the restrictions imposed as policy responses to control the spread of the virus, and the associated market disruptions affect the operations of MSPs across the country. However, the specific impacts MSPs experience depends on factors specific to different regions and states. Measures to support MSPs and to ensure farmer access to their services should be guided by an understanding of the situation on the ground.

Author: Researchers of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Book Description
Between April and October 2020, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Michigan State University (MSU), with support from the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) and the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT), have undertaken analyses of secondary data combined with regular telephone surveys of actors at all stages of Myanmar’s agri-food system in order to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on the system. These analyses show that the volume of agribusiness has slowed considerably in Myanmar since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place. There is lower demand from farmers for agricultural inputs and mechanization services and lower volumes of produce traded, especially exports to neighboring countries whose borders are closed. All actors in the agri-food system are facing liquidity constraints and experiencing increased difficulties in both borrowing and recovering loans.

Author: Goeb, Joseph
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description
Phone surveys were conducted with input retailers from Shan, Kachin, Bago, Ayeyarwady, Sagaing, and Mandalay between 17 and 20 June and again between 6 and 8 July 2020 to understand and monitor the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the agricultural input sector.

Author: Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA)
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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Book Description
Key findings Forty-two percent of farming communities experienced lower agricultural production than normal in the past 12 months, mainly due to drought and pests. Forty-four percent of farming communities reported greater difficulties in selling agricultural products than usual. Low crop price was the most frequently reported disruption. There are pressing concerns for the upcoming monsoon season harvest. Inorganic fertilizer prices are skyrocketing–compound fertilizer prices increased 56 percent in September 2021 compared to September 2020 while urea prices increased 72 percent compared to last year. About one-third of farming communities hired fewer agricultural wage workers this year compared to last year, with 46 percent reporting that this was mainly due to financial problems. For the current monsoon season, 45 percent of farming communities expect overall agricultural production will be lower than that of last year. Recommended actions Implement measures such as input subsidies, vouchers, or agricultural grants to limit the impact of the price increases of fertilizers and other inputs on agricultural production. As farming communities risk falling into vicious cycles of income loss, financial support is urgently needed to avoid long-lasting impacts of the crises on the agricultural performance of affected communities. Social protection is urgently needed in rural areas, including food/cash for work schemes to offset lower demand for agricultural labor.

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
This policy note provides evidence of the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on farming communities in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone using baseline data from January 2020 and follow-up phone survey data. The first round of the phone survey was conducted between 10 and 21 June 2020 and inquired about the effects of COVID-19 on agricultural production and other livelihood sources from February to May 2020. In total, 1,070 male and female respondents from 605 households in 30 communities were interviewed. The sample for the phone survey covers all nonirrigation households and all women-adult-only households (WHH), as these categories of households were few in the baseline survey, and a randomly selected subsample of the dual-adult irrigation households covered in the baseline.

Author: Goeb, Joseph
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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Book Description
Agricultural input retailers play a key role in Myanmar’s agri-food system by supplying farmers with fertilizer, seed, pesticides, and other inputs necessary for successful harvests. Because farm-level input use is an important driver of yields for all major food crops, shocks to the input retail sector have major implications both for rural household welfare and for national food security. COVID-19 and the policies enacted to mitigate its spread have shocked Myanmar’s economy. Agricultural input retailers, like many other businesses, are squeezed between both supply and demand side shocks. On the supply side, agricultural inputs have long, international supply chains that could be disrupted by restrictions on international or internal trade and transport. On the demand side, the shocks to rural households’ incomes, crop prices, and uncertainty could affect input purchases. This research note seeks to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of the Government of Myanmar and agricultural sector stakeholders understand the related shocks to Myanmar’s agricultural input retailers. We conducted a phone survey with 221 input shop owners and managers to understand (i) the demand-side effects of COVID-19 shocks as reflected in sales of key inputs, such as fertilizers, maize seed, vegetable seeds, and pesticides,the supply-side effects both in general and for key inputs, and (iii) business responses to COVID-19 shocks.

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description
This policy note provides evidence of the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on farming communities in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone using baseline data from January 2020 (BL) and followup telephone survey data. 1 The first round of the telephone survey was conducted with 606 households between 10 and 21 June 2020 (PS1) and inquired about the effects of COVID-19 on agricultural production and other livelihood sources from February to May 2020. The second round effects of COVID-19 in June and July.

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
The persistent and worsening effects of the COVID-19 crisis on rural household incomes are alarming. The onset of the second wave of infections and mitigation measures in Myanmar is continuing to depress household incomes. Key findings: Almost three-quarters of the households surveyed reported lower household income than usual in August and September. In addition to a drought and lack of irrigation water limiting crop production in August and September, 22 percent of farmers experienced difficulties accessing inputs and 28 percent invested less than usual in their farm due to financial constraints. A quarter of farmers experienced difficulties selling their produce, which is lower than the share that reported having such difficulties in previous months. However, farmers anticipate further difficulties hampering sales in coming months, mainly due to expected restrictions on mobility. Landless households have been the most adversely affected by the crisis, largely due to lost nonfarm employment, lower remittances, and further negative impacts on rural enterprises. To cope with reduced incomes, 61 percent of households reported having reduced food expenditures, 36 percent sold assets, and 37 percent took loans. Households maintained the diversity of their diets but reduced the amount of meat and fish consumed. More households reported meat and fish to be less available than in previous rounds. Government transfer programs reached 99 percent of households in the study area, mostly in the form of income assistance. Recommended actions: Assistance to rural households should be continued to soften the impact of reduced income during the COVID-19 crisis and prevent households from jeopardizing future food security and health by depleting savings and assets, acquiring debt, and reducing food expenditures. Supporting rural non-farm businesses and employment will be key to building resilience in household livelihoods and to achieving a faster overall economic recovery.