minbu rainfed upland lz profile - 3rd.doc

7/26/2019 Minbu rainfed upland LZ profile - 3rd.doc

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Myanmar Livelihood Baseline Profle

Minbu Rain ed Upland Livelihood Zone December2011 1

Zone Descrip ion

Minbu Township is located in Magway Division in the western part of the central DryZone of Myanmar. This pro le outlines livelihood patterns in the rainfed uplandvillages where NAG wor s. The !rrawaddy "iver #ows to the east of this livelihood$one and there are two nearby ma%or roads &from Minbu town to Tha 'at in Magway

Township and from Minbu town to (itwe in "a hine (tate) and one railway line &from Tha 'at through Minbu to *a o u).

The $one can be divided into two areas. The rst area is low upland+ with #at wideareas for cultivation and lots of trees. The second area is separated from the rst bya hilly gra$ing area with oil elds &which are both publicly and privately owned). Thisarea is high upland+ less #at and less forested. (imilar crops are grown in both areas,oil seeds &including sesame+ groundnuts and sun#ower)+ pulses &including greengram+ pigeon peas+ cowpeas+ chic peas+ and lab lab)+ cotton+ and sorghum &forlivestoc fodder). *addy rice+ the main staple food+ is not grown in this livelihood$one+ but is grown in other parts of Minbu Township+ including in villages withirrigated land. Almost all crop production is sold and households from all wealth

The farming system in the $one relies completely on rainfed agriculture. The rainyseason runs from mid-May to mid-(eptember+ sometimes with a dry period in uly+and average rainfall was /0 inches per year over the last 1 years. !t was reportedthat the rainfall pattern has changed over time+ becoming more intense and lessfre2uent. Temperatures range from 03-0/4 in December- anuary to 53-504 in March-April. 6armers describe three types of soil, sandy+ clay and gravel. 4lay soil isconsidered best+ and ma es up about 037 of the land area+ followed by sandy soil&837 of the area) and then gravel soil &/37 of the area). 9etter o: households tendto have access to the better 2uality land. 6ields are tilled using o;en for draughtpower. !n order to ma;imise rainfall+ farmers do deep tillage+ adopt mulchingpractices and before ploughing broadcast animal manure &which can absorb water).

The main constraints to crop production include irregular rainfall+ traditional farmingpractices+ poor 2uality seeds+ limited investment in inputs+ lac of nowledge on

input usage &i.e. fertili$er+ pesticide and fungicide dosages) and uncertain crop sellingprices. Traditional farming practices include leaving sesame to ctober ? November 03@@. The informationpresented refers to August 03@3 ? uly 03@@+ a below average year for food security by local standardsdue to poor sesame production in 03@3. *rovided there are no fundamental and rapid shifts in theeconomy+ the information in this pro le is e;pected to remain valid for at least ve years &i.e. until atleast 03@1). All prices referred to in the document are for the reference year .

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limiting factor and #uctuating crop selling prices are another ma%or constraint.9ecause the weather and prices are unpredictable+ farmers engage in low risfarming+ which means low investment and conse2uently low returns. Most farmerscannot a:ord to ta e the ris of investing heavily in their crop production. owever+Minbu is nown to produce the worst 2uality sesame in the Dry Zone+ partly becauseof post-harvest processing+ so some improvements should be possible.

(ince appro;imately half the population of the $one is landless+ wage labour and self-employment are central to livelihoods in this $one. The poorer wealth groups engagein local agricultural wor + migrant labour+ road construction+ oil eld labour+ charcoalburning+ plum pic ing+ and gypsum collection+ amongst a variety of other activities.Most able-bodied people in landless households wor nearly full time+ for very lowwages+ averaging only about @333 yat per day in the reference period August 03@3? uly 03@@. Bocal agricultural wor is the most important income source.

Access to credit is an important livelihood strategy in this $one+ for poor and bettero: households ali e. (ources of credit include the Agricultural Development 9an +NG>s &including *A4T+ (ave the 4hildren and NAG)+ moneylenders+ traders andgrocery shops. "ates of interest vary considerably &from @.87 per month with theAD9 to @37 per month with moneylenders)+ as do the terms of repayment &with theAD9 and NG>s less #e;ible than other sources). >nly farmers can borrow from theAD9 and the si$e of loan depends on the number of acres owned. Mortgaging of landand pawning of assets such as gold are also common when households faceproblems.

Cater sources vary from village to village and include shallow wells &hand dug andcemented)+ boreholes &both public and private+ for which people are charged about@8 yat per 8 gallons)+ open ponds &which do not last the whole year) and rainwaterharvesting &by households and monasteries with iron sheet roofs). umans andlivestoc generally do not share the same water sources. 6or e;ample+ where openponds are used+ there are separate ponds for human and animal consumption &thelatter sometimes located in gra$ing areas). Cater is usually transported manuallyusing %errycans+ although o; carts are also used.

Most villages do not have electricity+ but several have a generator that runs for twohours in the evening at a cost to the user.

Mar!e s

Mar et access in the Minbu "ainfed pland Bivelihood Zone is fairly good because itis relatively close to a large trading centre in Minbu town. owever+ only the main

road is asphalt and other dirt roads become impassable for vehicles for up to vedays following heavy rains. Even the main asphalt road is split by sand cree s that#ow in the rainy season. There are few bridges+ ma ing access diFcult at times. Therailway line from Tha 'at to *a o u passes through the $one and this is one way thatpeople get from villages to Minbu town for shopping.

(esame seeds and groundnuts+ the main cash crops in this livelihood $one+ are soldto traders based in Minbu and then on to Magway+ Mandalay and nally 4hina.6armers tend to sell their production immediately after the harvest+ in August-(eptember for sesame and December- anuary for groundnuts.

The trading route for sesame or groundnuts that have been converted to oil is from

Minbu to Magway to *yay and nally to 'angon. Green gram and pigeon peas aree;ported through Mandalay to 4hina+ through Monywa to !ndia+ or through 'angon toother e;port mar ets. 4rop selling prices are unpredictable and #uctuate

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considerably from one year to the ne;t+ ma ing it ris y for farmers to invest heavilyin crop production. 9ecause much of the oil seed and pulse production is e;portedfrom the country+ national e;port and e;change rate policies have a large impact onthe local prices that farmers obtain.

There is a lot of suspicion between farmers and traders+ with each side thin ing that

the other is trying to cheat. 6armers complain that traders deduct an e;cessiveamount for the weight of the bag. Traders complain that farmers mi; sesame withsmall stones that loo similar. Good mar et functioning re2uires trust and it seemsthat this is a problem in Minbu. !n addition+ the truc s that transport farm products toMinbu get a commission from the trader+ which is factored into the price that thefarmer receives+ in addition to charging the farmer for transportation costs. Thiscontributes to farmers getting poor prices for their production.

ouseholds in the Minbu "ainfed pland Bivelihood Zone purchase all of their food."ice is bought either from traders in Minbu town or from village-level stores. Allvillages have general stores that meet the daily needs of households in the village+as well as smaller stores selling snac s+ betel and basic household products li e soap+salt and spices. The number of larger general stores depends on the si$e of thevillage+ but they tend to have four stores in larger villages and two stores in smallervillages. The smaller stores are informal+ opening and closing depending on the

nancial situation of the owner. The larger stores e;tend credit to communitymembers and e;pect repayment around the harvest time. The advantages forhouseholds of purchasing items locally include convenience and the ability topurchase small 2uantities of items on credit without an e;plicit interest rate+ whichespecially suits poorer households. The disadvantage is that local prices tend to behigher. 9etter o: households tend to purchase items less fre2uently and in larger2uantities in Minbu town+ travelling to mar et there about 5-8 times per month.

Bocal casual wor is the most important income source for very poor and poorhouseholds. ousehold members only migrate when there is a problem or in badyears. The most common destinations for migration are Nay *yi Daw &for buildingconstruction) or Muse in (han (tate &for road construction). The most commonperiod for migration is anuary-March+ the lean season. There is some in-migration tothe area to wor in the oil elds that neighbour the $one. *eople from all over thecountry see wor in the oil elds.

Re erence "ear

All of the information presented in this pro le refers to the period August 03@3 ? uly 03@@+ a below average year for food security by local standards due to poorsesame production in 03@3. !n interviews at community level+ ey informants wereas ed to ran the seasons over the last ve years+ with


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#easonal $alendar

The reference year starts in August because that is when the main crop+ sesame+ isharvested. >ther crops are also harvested in August+ including rst season greengrams and groundnuts. There is a second harvest period during the year+ startingin November+ when second season green grams and groundnuts+ pigeon peas andcotton are harvested. The lab lab bean harvest starts later+ in 6ebruary. (esame+groundnuts and green grams are short-cycle crops+ while pigeon peas and cottonare long-cycle. (esame and pigeon peas are intercropped+ while green grams+cotton and sorghum &grown for fodder) are usually single stand.

4asual agricultural labour opportunities within the livelihood $one pea from May to(eptember. Agricultural wor in nearby villages that grow paddy rice is alsoavailable in December- anuary+ which is harvest time. Activities that pea in thedry season include charcoal production+ gypsum collection+ and masonry labour.Cor in the oil elds is available during most months of the year.

The pea of the lean season is from 6ebruary to May+ when local agricultural woropportunities are limited. Band preparation wor during this period is often carriedout with own household labour rather than with employed labour.

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%eal h Brea!do&n

The main determinants of wealth in this $one are the area of land owned andcultivated+ number of livestoc owned+ and number of people per householdcapable of wor . The area of land cultivated increases with wealth+ with the bottomtwo groups mostly landless. A small proportion of households in the poor wealthgroup own a small amount of land+ but they do not cultivate it. This is probablybecause of a lac of o;en and the ris s involved in investing in cash cropproduction.

Distinguishing between very poor and poor households was not easy at villagelevel. Most of them do not own livestoc and overall household si$e is similar+ butthe poor have slightly more people able to wor per household &and fewerdependents) than the very poor. Middle and better o: households cultivate thesame crops e;cept for groundnuts+ which only the better o: can a:ord to cultivate.

Bivestoc rearing+ apart from draught o;en+ is not prioritised by most households inthis livelihood $one. 6odder is limited+ as is labour availability for gra$ing and

eeping animals+ and there is a limited mar et for mil and meat. There is a systemfor livestoc sharing between households+ nown as mwe beh + but it is not widelypractised. >nly poorer households rear pigs and it is diFcult to ma e a pro t from

this activity+ which may be why few households attempt it.

#ources o 'ood or he Re erence "ear (2010)2011*

The graph presents thesources of food forhouseholds in di:erentwealth groups in thelivelihood $one for theperiod August 03@3 ? uly03@@. Apart from a limited

amount of own vegetableconsumption+ the onlysource of food for all wealthgroups was mar etpurchase. ouseholdspurchased rice+ coo ing oil+dry and fresh sh+ beef+por + lab lab beans+

In the graph, food access is expressed as a percentage of minimum food requirements, taken as an average food


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energy needs+ comprising on average 3-H37 of the household diet+ followed by oil&@3-037). Meat+ sh and beans ma e up only 3-87 of energy needs+ across allgroups.

Mil from own livestoc is not consumed in this livelihood $one.

#ources o $ash or he Re erence "ear (2010)2011*

he graph provides a breakdown of total cash incomeaccording to income source. he !gures in the graphrepresent the mid"point of a range.

The graph presents thesources of cash income forhouseholds in di:erentwealth groups for theperiod August 03@3 ? uly03@@.

Iery poor and poorhouseholds obtained thebul of their cash incomefrom on- and o:-farmcasual employment andself-employment activitiesli e charcoal burning andgypsum collection. >naverage+ they earned @+333

yat per day fromagricultural wor and @+333- /+333 yat per day fromo:-farm activities.

The agricultural activitiesthat re2uire the mostlabour are weeding of allcrops+ harvesting andthreshing of sesame+ and

Iery poor *oor Middle 9etter o:

Annualincome & yat)

J83+333 ?@+083+333

@+333+333

?@+J33+333

@+133+333 ?

0+/33+333

0+333+333 ?

/+133+333

harvesting of cotton. Band preparation is mostly done using own household labour+while all other types of agricultural wor are paid in cash.

Middle and better o: households obtained most of their income from crop sales. Allcrop production was sold+ usually at harvest time when prices were low. !ncome from

livestoc sales was very small because cattle herd si$es are small and animals are notsold every year.

ouseholds obtained substantial income from loans in the reference year and manyhouseholds borrowed from multiple sources. This partly has a consumptionsmoothing e:ect+ allowing households to have an income source when other sourcesare lac ing. ltimately+ however+ more has to be paid bac than is borrowed.

+,pendi ure Pa erns or he Re erence "ear (2010)2011*

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The 2uality of thehousehold diet improveswith wealth+ but does notvary much by wealth group.4ereals are the main sourceof


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The graph presentse;penditure patterns forthe reference yearAugust 03@3 ? uly03@@. Chile totale;penditure increases

with wealth+ thee;penditure brea downby percent in this graphdemonstrates howmuch e;penditure isspent on di:erentcategories. Theproportion of e;penditure on staplefood &which is rice+ indar green in the graph)decreased with wealth+from %ust over 537 of annual e;penditure forvery poor households toless than 037 for bettero: households.4ombining staple andnon-

he graph provides a breakdown of total annual cash expenditureaccording to category of expenditure .

staple food+ very poor households spent about two-thirds of their income on food+declining to less than one-third for the better o:.

Middle and better-o: households spent much more+ in absolute terms+ on most other

items. The main household items &in yellow) purchased are tea+ soap &bar soap andwashing powder)+ and other toiletries &including thenika )+ and these decrease as apercent of total e;penditure with wealth. 6irewood and water were generally notpurchased in the reference year.


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-a.ards

The main ha$ard that occurs in this livelihood $one is irregular and inade2uaterainfall. As the farmers in this $one have no access to irrigation+ poor rains result incrop failure and then they need to resort to other income-generating activities topurchase food. Another periodic ha$ard is the #uctuation of prices for crops that aree;ported.

>ther ha$ards were not consistently reported in all villages+ but included livestocdiseases li e foot and mouth and crop diseases and pests li e leaf folders+ leaf miners+ pod borers+ sesame phyllody and blac spot.

$opin/ # ra e/ies

The coping strategies used in bad or very bad years vary by wealth group and thesections above illustrate some of these+ since the baseline is for a below average year.

ery poor and poor , The main coping strategy when income from agricultural labouris low due to crop failure is to increase o:-farm activities such as migration+ oil eldlabour+ charcoal sales and plum pic ing. Iery poor and poor households also increaseloan ta ing in bad years. "educing e;penditure on e;pensive foods &meat+ sh andoil)+ clothes+ social obligations+ and non-essentials &li e alcohol+ betel+ tobacco andentertainment)+ in order to purchase more food+ is another commonly used copingstrategy. A damaging strategy that is sometimes e;ploited in bad years is to removechildren from school.

Middle and be er o , Middle and better o: households increase livestoc sales inbad years. There is a limit to how many animals a household can sell withoutnegatively a:ecting future production and livelihoods. (ometimes this strategy ta esthe form of selling a large o; and purchasing a smaller one. As for the poorer groups+another strategy for these groups is to increase loan ta ing in bad years. (ometimesthis ta es the form of mortgaging land or gold+ commonly with a three-yearrepayment period. Non-essential e;penditure is reduced or cut-out entirely in badyears+ and middle and better o: households have more scope to e;ploit this strategycompared to the very poor and poor since they have higher levels of e;penditure. Apotentially damaging coping strategy that is sometimes e;ploited by households withland is to reduce investment in crop production by reducing the area cultivated.

ey Parame ers or Moni orin/

The ey parameters listed in the table below are things that ma e a substantial

contribution to household food and income sources in the Minbu "ainfed plandBivelihood Zone. These things should be monitored to indicate potential losses orgains to local household economies+ either through ongoing monitoring systems orthrough periodic assessments.

3 em ey Parame er 4 5uan i y ey Parame er 4 Price$rops (esame

Green gram *igeon peas Groundnuts 4otton

(esame Green gram *igeon peas Groundnuts 4otton

Lives oc! 4attle 4attle6 her ood andcash income

Agricultural labour >:-farm labour and self-

Agricultural labour wagerate

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employment Boans

>:-farm labour wage rateand self-employmentpro t

Boans interest rate

!t is also important to monitor the prices of ey items on the e;penditure side+including rice prices.

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#cenario 7nalysis

The livelihoods baseline outlined above can be used to e;amine the impact of varioustypes of change on people=s livelihoods+ including changes related to weather+mar ets+ policies and interventions. At the heart of this analysis is the contention that

in order to predict the e:ects of any shoc or in order to understand the potentialbene ts of any development intervention+ you rst need to be able to understand theways that people piece together their livelihoods.

The following graphs use the Bivelihoods !mpact Analysis (preadsheet &B!A() toanalyse 2uestions related to vulnerability. !n this analysis+ the e;tent to which ahousehold can increase access to food and income in response to a shoc e;cludesthe resort to negative coping strategies+ such as unsustainable livestoc sales+reduction in consumption beneath minimum consumption re2uirements+ oreliminating social services e;penditure. To illustrate the type of analysis that can beconducted+ the following shoc is considered for very poor households, a 837 loss of local of local labour income and a doubling of staple food prices. Everything else isconsidered unchanged in this scenario.

The graphic on the left illustrates this scenario for verypoor households &


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6or better o: households+ the following shoc is analysedand illustrated on the left, a 837 crop failure and adoubling of staple food prices. 9etter o: households endup well below the livelihood protection threshold+suggesting that they would not be able to a:ord all ofthe items in the livelihood protection bas et under thisscenario. These items include agricultural inputs+ thecost of education and health care+ and basic itemsrelated to maintaining a minimally acceptable standardof living and a diversi ed diet. 9etter o: households cancope with the second shoc &a doubling of staple foodprices)+ but a 837 loss of crop production causesproblems towards the end of the consumption year on itsown. The combination of the two shoc s together hasserious implications.

Note that the pale blue part of the graph &the livelihoodprotection threshold) is much larger for better o: thanfor very poor households because of the high cost ofinputs for crop production.

>ther scenarios can be e;amined if decision ma ers areinterested in di:erent assumptions regarding, inclusionof coping strategies+ components of the survival orlivelihood protection bas ets+ prices+ 2uantities of income-related items &crops+ labour+ livestoc ).

Pro/ramme 3mplica ions

The longer-term programme implications suggested below include those that werehighlighted by the wealth group interviewees themselves and those made by theassessment team following detailed discussions and observations in the eld. All of these suggestions re2uire further detailed feasibility studies.

7/ricul ural produc ion suppor , A number of the suggested development ideas

relate to improving agricultural production, encouraging MA( to provide e;tension tofarmers growing oil seeds and pulsesL introducing seed selection training andimproved seed storageL demonstrating and piloting of improved agricultural practicesLimproving the e:ective use of soil moistureL introducing low-cost crop processingtechni2ues &e.g. for sesame threshing)L supporting ground water e;ploitationL settingup crop insurance schemesL and introducing soil and water conservation techni2ues tohelp with climate change adaptation. owever+ since very poor and poor householdsare landless+ it should be emphasi$ed that these wealth groups will only indirectlybene t from such interventions+ perhaps through increased employment+ if at all. !twould be interesting to e;plore whether the provision of agricultural support could belin ed to higher wages for casual agricultural wor ers.

3rri/a ion8 There are a large number of sand streams+ which only have water #owingwhen it rains. They tend to swell 2uic ly and then return to being =dry=+ whichsuggests there is potential for capturing run-o:. Chether there are suitable places for

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chec dams or bunds and use of treadle pump technology should be investigated.Drip irrigation for vegetable gardens is another interesting option to test in villageswith suFcient space.

Mar!e in/ suppor , Given the suspicions that e;ist between farmers and traders+there is an opportunity to improve this relationship with the hope that farmers will

ultimately obtain better prices for the crops that they sell. There may be a role for thevillage membership organi$ations &M>s) to guarantee 2uality and to improvecommunication and relations between farmers and traders. The M>s could also havea useful role in the collection of information on crop production and wage rates atvillage level and the dissemination of price data from mar et centres to farmers.

3ncome diversifca ion , This is a priority for very poor and poor households sincethey are currently very dependent on low-paid local agricultural wor . The challengeis to nd local income-generating opportunities that are reliable and can provide ahigher income per day. Bivestoc eeping may be one possible contribution to poorerhouseholds+ but a preliminary detailed analysis of whether or not it is pro table isre2uired. Iocational training was another suggestion from villagers.

3n ras ruc ure developmen , "oad access to villages is diFcult in the rainy seasonand this both acts as a constraint to the transport of agricultural and other products tomar et and contributes to the high prices for staple food that households pay in this$one.

6ppor uni ies or membership or/ani.a ions (M6s* , A number of theseprogramme implications present opportunities for the >;fam- and NAG-supportedmembership organi$ations+ including, seed selection+ access to inputs+ priceinformation management+ trust building between farmers and traders+ crop storage+training in improved agricultural practices &including harvesting and threshingpractices)+ service delivery &e.g. threshing machines or hand tractors)+ socialprotection through pro%ects to improve local infrastructure+ and training in s ills thatcan be mar eted outside the village.

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minbu rainfed upland lz profile - 3rd.doc

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