Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes - August 2020 survey round

Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes - August 2020 survey round PDF

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-10-27

Total Pages: 8

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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.

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes – October 2020 survey round

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes – October 2020 survey round PDF

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-12-02

Total Pages: 9

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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.

Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes - June 2020 survey round

Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural production and rural livelihoods in two irrigation schemes - June 2020 survey round PDF

Author: Lambrecht, Isabel

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-08-14

Total Pages: 9

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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.

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Yangon peri-urban poultry farmers - November 2020 survey round

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Yangon peri-urban poultry farmers - November 2020 survey round PDF

Author: Fang, Peixun

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-12-22

Total Pages: 11

ISBN-13:

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Poultry farmers in Myanmar were interviewed by telephone in early June, late June, early July, late July, and August 2020 to determine how their businesses were being affected by COVID-19 related restrictions. The results of those surveys were published in Myanmar Strategy Support Program Policy Notes 11, 13, 19, 21, and 28, respectively. To trace the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their economic activities, a sixth round of the phone survey of poultry farmers was done in November 2020. The sixth round sample included 226 poultry farmers (162 broiler and 64 layer farms) in the Yangon peri-urban area (Ayeyarwady, Bago, and Yangon regions) who had been interviewed in the first five rounds of the survey. The same survey questionnaire was used. This survey round is three months after the August survey round, so most broiler farms should have finished a full production cycle between the two last survey rounds. This Policy Note reports on the results of this sixth survey round.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Myanmar’s agri-food system: Evidence base and policy implications

Impacts of COVID-19 on Myanmar’s agri-food system: Evidence base and policy implications PDF

Author: Researchers of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-10-09

Total Pages: 18

ISBN-13:

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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.

Community perceptions of changes in rural livelihoods since onset of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Insights from Round 7 of the National COVID-19 Community Survey (NCCS) – May 2021

Community perceptions of changes in rural livelihoods since onset of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Insights from Round 7 of the National COVID-19 Community Survey (NCCS) – May 2021 PDF

Author: Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA)

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2021-06-28

Total Pages: 7

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COVID-19 prevention measures are at their lowest levels since June 2020. However, several restrictions were recently implemented to curtail political unrest that are likely to also slow the spread of the virus. Communities have experienced further reductions in employment opportunities. The estimated share of adults who are unemployed is at its highest level since June 2020. In May 2021, respondents estimated that nearly half of adults in urban communities and 37 percent of adults in rural communities were unemployed in the past month. Agricultural production thus far appears robust but has suffered from poor weather conditions, whereas crop sales are affected by low crop prices and mobility restrictions. The share of households receiving remittances is estimated to be only half of those receiving remittances at the end of 2020. Whereas the end of the year is traditionally a period where more remittances are received, the recent decline is likely also related to challenges in the financial sector and to reduction in domestic employment, especially in urban areas. Financial services are disrupted in two-thirds of the communities. These disruptions include bank closures (in 58 percent of communities), challenges in meeting loan officers (19 percent), and shortages of money in ATMs (7 percent). There is a stark increase in the share of households who urgently need assistance. Community respondents estimate that in May 2021 one-third of households on average are in urgent need of assistance, which is twice as high as the share estimated in July 2020. Coping mechanisms have changed since mid-2020 with communities no longer receiving cash-based assistance. Households are relying less on credit and loans. Instead, they are increasingly reducing both food and non-food expenditures and selling agricultural and non-agricultural assets.

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural input retailers - May 2020 survey round

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural input retailers - May 2020 survey round PDF

Author: Goeb, Joseph

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 7

ISBN-13:

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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.