The persistent and worsening effects of the COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar are continuing to depress household incomes. To measure the immediate impacts of the pandemic, researchers Isabel Lambrecht, Catherine Ragasa, Kristi Mahrt, Zin Wai Aung, and Michael Wang conducted a series of surveys with farming communities in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone. They utilized the findings from these surveys to create policy recommendations and help Myanmar farmers sustain their livelihoods.
The full policy note by Isabel, Catherine, Kristi, Zin Wai Aung, and Michael is available to view in English here and in Burmese here.
မြန်မာဘာသာဖြင့်ရေးသားထားသော စာတမ်းအပြည့်အစုံကို ဤနေရာတွင် ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ပါသည်။
Background
The Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA) interviewed 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 in mid-June and inquired about the effects of COVID-19 on agricultural production and other livelihood sources from February to May 2020. This post highlights the findings from the third round of surveys conducted in October 2020 and captures the effects of COVID-19 in August and September. The months covered in this survey round coincide with the onset of a second and much larger wave of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Myanmar which started mid-August.
Effects of COVID-19
Impacts on crop production and marketing. Two-thirds of the households surveyed cultivated crops in August and September 2020. Twenty-two percent of farmers experienced difficulties purchasing inputs due to COVID-19 measures, which is a significant increase both from June and July (13 percent) and from the first wave of COVID-19 between February and May (16 percent). Those experiencing difficulties noted challenges in accessing farm machinery services and inorganic fertilizer. Twenty-eight percent of farmers also reported having invested less in agricultural inputs than usual due to financial constraints in August and September, which is more than the 16 percent reporting so in June and July. In addition to the pandemic, 70 percent of farmers reported drought as a major challenge to crop production in August and September, which is a much higher share of farmers than the 46 percent that reported these challenges in June and July.
On the marketing side, problems experienced in selling crops diminished. Though 24 percent of farmers still indicated difficulties in selling crops, this finding stands in contrast to the two-thirds of farmers who experienced difficulties in selling crops during the first wave of COVID-19. Nevertheless, 42 percent of farmers continue to anticipate challenges in selling their harvests in the coming months due to movement restrictions and lack of buyers.
Effects on nonfarm businesses and employment. COVID-19 continued to impact agricultural wage employment in August and September, but to a lesser degree than non-agricultural wage labor and non-farm businesses. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they normally engage in farm wage employment in this period, whereas only 21 percent of respondents were engaged this year (Figure 1). Though fewer women reported difficulties finding wage employment than men, a significantly greater percentage of landless households reported difficulties finding farm wage employment (58 percent) compared to households with land (37 percent). Nevertheless, respondents from landless households were still able to obtain farm wage employment to a similar degree as in the past.
Similarly, a high share of non-farm wage workers experienced difficulties (70 percent) in finding work this year; only 15 percent of respondents did non-farm wage work this year compared to the normal 26 percent. This amounts to similar conditions as the non-farm labor market during the first wave of the pandemic and represents a deterioration when compared with June and July.
Impacts on income loss and coping mechanisms. COVID-19 increasingly affects household incomes. During August and September, 72 percent of households reported having lower income than usual. This is a notably higher share than in June-July (57 percent) and February-May (56 percent) and was driven by a large increase in the share of households with land experiencing income loss. Nonetheless, more landless households than households with land were affected by income loss (79 percent vs. 70 percent). Affected households mainly drew on savings (78 percent) and reduced food expenditure (61 percent) to cope with the loss of income. However, 36 percent of households with decreased income in August and September also sold assets, and 37 percent borrowed to cope with income loss.
Effects on nutrition. The frequency and quantity of meat and fish consumed by the surveyed households declined during the COVID-19 crisis, though there is evidence for increased vegetable consumption. The main reasons reported for lower meat and fish consumption were reduced income, higher prices, and fear of contracting COVID-19 when purchasing or eating meat.
Policy recommendations
- Continue to support households through the crisis and its immediate aftermath, as well as continue to seek ways to support livelihoods when the immediate disruptions of COVID-19 mitigation measures subside. Supporting rural non-farm businesses and employment will be key to a faster recovery.
- Given that women play a central role in household nutrition through their responsibilities for cooking household meals, nutrition messages should target women. Future nutrition messages could also attempt to debunk false perceptions about the spread of COVID-19 through meat or fish consumption.
- Options for targeting cash transfers to female household members, women producers, and women entrepreneurs should be explored. This practice has been shown to generate a positive impact on women’s empowerment, which is often associated with improved child nutrition, higher educational attainment, and increased household welfare.
The current blog post highlights one of the many recent surveys and policy notes that MAPSA has conducted to assess the emerging constraints that key agricultural actors face and to mitigate the possible impacts of COVID-19 on rural livelihoods and food security. Additional blog posts are available highlighting MAPSA’s research on the impact of COVID-19 on key actors in Myanmar’s agri-food system. Surveys are ongoing, and findings and recommendations will be periodically updated.
Related blog posts
- COVID-19’s impacts on Myanmar’s agri-food system
- Community perceptions of COVID-19’s impacts in Myanmar (October)
- Crop trading during the pandemic: Lessons learned in Myanmar (August)
Isabel Lambrecht is a Research Fellow in the Development Strategy and Governance Division (DSGD) of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), based in Yangon, Myanmar. Catherine Ragasa is a Senior Research Fellow in DSGD of IFPRI, based in Washington, DC. Kristi Mahrt is a Senior Research Analyst in DSGD of IFPRI, based in Colorado, USA. Zin Wai Aung is a Research Consultant, based in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Michael Wang is a Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellow in DSGD of IFPRI, based in Yangon.
This blog post was prepared by Michael Wang. The analysis and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the authors.
