This blog post highlights findings from nine rounds of the National COVID-19 Community Survey (NCCS). The NCCS was originally designed to monitor the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar. The questionnaire is administered to respondents from rural and urban communities throughout the entire country and highlights the impacts that respondents observe in their own community. It focuses on agriculture and is based on the responses from communities engaged in agricultural production.
You can view the full research note in English here.
This Research Note contains responses from 451 communities, including 370 farming communities: 84 from the Delta, 130 from the Dry Zone, 45 from the South-East (Tanintharyi, Mon, Kayah and Kayin), 93 from the North (Kachin and Shan) and 18 from the West (Chin and Rakhine).
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.
This blog post highlights one of the many recent surveys and research notes that MAPSA has conducted to assess the emerging constraints that key agricultural actors face and to mitigate the possible impacts of COVID-19 and recent disruptions on rural livelihoods and food security. Additional blog posts are available highlighting MAPSA’s research on the impact of disruptions on key actors in Myanmar’s agri-food system. Surveys are ongoing, and findings and recommendations will be periodically updated.
