Overall Goal (SDC in Myanmar)Contribute to political, social and economic transitions in Myanmar that aim at a peaceful, inclusive and equitable society as well as democratically legitimized institutions

Agriculture and Food Security GoalSmallholder and landless farmers, including women and men of all ethnicities, have increased food security, access to assets, sustainable agricultural productivity and income

FACTSHEET

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

Context: opportunity and challengesMyanmar’s great natural potential for agricultural growth is hampered by a legacy of misguided policies and state-controlled markets that are partly responsible for the poor productivity that endures today. While agriculture constitutes one-third of Myanmar’s GDP and two-thirds of all employment, Myanmar’s rice yield per acre is 60% the world average, and overall national production is declining. About a quarter of Myanmar’s population lives under the poverty line, and one in three children are chronically malnourished. A new land law creates a land market yet one in four agriculture-dependent households remain landless. Private sector interests are taking an increasingly strong role in shaping options for agricultural development, which presents both opportunities and threats for smallholder farmers as they struggle to access land and other natural assets, inputs and technologies, and favorable markets.

What SDC does: annual budget USD 5.5 millionThe Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Agriculture and Food Security (A+FS) portfolio targets the rural poor, including women and men that depend on family farms, as well as the landless, especially in the SDC geographic focus area in Myanmar’s southeast.

The A+FS portfolio achieves its goal through

field-based bilateral projects, systemic change initiatives, and donor coordination including through a multi-donor fund. Two projects focus directly on outcomes for farmers in the southeast: GRO-Myanmar works to develop market systems in support of smallholder rubber farmer productivity; and Community-led Coastal Management in the Gulf of Mottama improves livelihoods of fishers and coastal farmers through sustainable resource management and value chain development. A third project, Strengthening Land Governance, links local concerns to a national-level intervention that aims for systemic change by enhancing capacities among multiple stakeholders. A contribution to the multi-donor Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) positions Switzerland within an effective donor coordination mechanism that increases food and livelihood security across Myanmar.

SDC’s current program portfolio1. Generating Rubber Opportunities in

Myanmar (GRO-Myanmar) CHF 4.5 million (2014-2017)Implemented by CARE Myanmar, the project applies a market systems development approach to improve livelihoods and increase social capital of poor women and men, specifically targeting 12,000 smallholder rubber farmers and 36,000 tappers of southern Mon State, with future expansion planned to adjacent areas in the

© LIFT/Jacquetta Hayes

southeast. The project emphasizes women’s economic empowerment and improved access to and control over land for rubber farmers. Partners include the national and local Rubber Planters and Producers Association, government departments responsible for rubber development and land registration, and local ethnic nationality leaders and communities. By bringing non-state actors, government and the private sector together around mutual economic interests, the project helps reduce conflict and increase cooperation.

2. Community-led Coastal Management in the Gulf of Mottama CHF 4.1 million (2014-2018)At the mouth of three of Myanmar’s major rivers, the Gulf of Mottama is a large funnel-shaped estuary with extensive tidal flats and a powerful tidal bore. Globally important and biologically productive, the Gulf of Mottama is being designated as a Ramsar site under this international convention for the sustainable use of wetlands. A primary constraint to local livelihoods is the rapid decline in fisheries. Implemented by HELVETAS in consortium with local NGO Network Activities Group (NAG) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the project improves livelihood security of coastal communities through effective fisheries value chain development, livelihoods diversification and equitable and sustainable management of resources. This project works with the private sector, coastal communities and government departments to adapt approaches to co-managed fisheries, and to create a multi-stakeholder regional platform for the wise use of the Gulf of Mottama.

3. Strengthening Land Governance CHF 4 million (2014-2017)Implemented by three partners, this project strengthens capacity for land governance among government, civil society, and ethnic nationality leaders and communities. The

Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern provides technical support to the government for the implementation of an open access spatial data platform on land-related information. The Land Core Group (LCG) works through a network of local and international NGO and civil society partners to increase capacity for research, advocacy and awareness on land tenure security; while Transnational Institute (TNI) focuses on supporting ethnic nationalities in ceasefire areas to increase their understanding and practices around equitable land governance. All three partners work to build national consensus on approaches to securing land tenure for women and ethnic minorities, including under customary systems.

4. Livelihood and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) CHF 9 million (2014-2018)Established in 2009 and grown to include 13 development partners, LIFT is Myanmar’s multi-donor fund for livelihoods development. With the goal to reduce by half the proportion of people living in poverty and hunger (MDG1), LIFT support has so far reached 2.8 million rural poor in nearly half of all townships in the country, through over 90 projects implemented by local and international NGOs, research and academic bodies, UN agencies and the private sector. LIFT works towards outcomes of increased income, resilience, improved nutrition and pro-poor development policies, by promoting sustainable production and natural resource use, market access, employment, access to micro-finance and increased local capacities, in the country’s three main eco-agricultural zones of the dry zone, uplands, and delta/coastal. SDC was an early contributor to this fund, and as a Fund Board member, helps guide the development and implementation of the LIFT strategy. To date, commitments to the fund total USD 204 million, of which Switzerland’s contribution thus far is USD 18.5 million.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

For further info:Embassy of Switzerland

Email: ygn.vertretung@eda.admin.chWebsite: www.eda.admin.ch/yangon

© LIFT/Jacquetta Hayes

© Raphael Glemet

© HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation

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