The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is pleased to announce the release of a new book, Myanmar’s Agrifood System: Historical Development, Recent Shocks, Future Opportunities. The book co-edited by researchers from IFPRI and Michigan State University, addresses the dramatic impacts of multiple crises on Myanmar’s agrifood system and explores potential pathways for recovery and development.
Resilience Amidst Crisis
Myanmar has endured multiple crises in recent years that have disrupted and even reversed a decade of economic development. Yet Myanmar’s agrifood system, which is central to the economy, has proved surprisingly resilient, in terms of both production and exports, in the face of COVID-19, global price instability, the 2021 military coup, economic mismanagement, and widespread conflict. However, household welfare has declined severely, with more than 3 million people internally displaced, and many more affected by high food price inflation and resulting dietary deterioration.
Insights and Contributions
Myanmar’s Agrifood System: Historical Development, Recent Shocks, Future Opportunities provides critical analyses and insights into the agrifood system's evolution, current state, and future potential. These analyses fill an important knowledge gap for one of Southeast Asia's major agricultural economies — one largely closed to empirical research for years. It is the culmination of a decade of rigorous research, offering valuable guidance for immediate humanitarian assistance and informing future strategies for growth, once a resolution that ensures lasting peace and good governance is achieved.
Broadly, this book offers unique insights into the functioning of agrifood systems during periods of rapid growth and transformation, as well as under stress, and provides examples of possible pathways to recovery in fragile and conflict-affected economies where a large share of the global poor and food-insecure populations reside. For Myanmar, the authors provide a roadmap for diverse stakeholders—policymakers, development practitioners, researchers, and civil society—who are committed to fostering a resilient and prosperous agrifood system in the country. Their insights and recommendations should serve as a valuable resource in efforts to achieve food security, economic stability, and social equity in Myanmar.
The book is open access and available at https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152392.
About the Editors
Duncan Boughton is a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University.
Ben Belton is a research fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, IFPRI, and an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University.
Isabel Lambrecht is a research fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, IFPRI.
Ian Masias is a program head in the Myanmar Strategy Support Program in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, IFPRI.
Bart Minten is the program leader of the Myanmar Strategy Support Program and a senior research fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit of IFPRI.
Myanmar’s Agrifood System: Historical Developments, Recent Shocks, Future Opportunities, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute, through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT).
To learn more about IFPRI-Myanmar’s work and access additional resources, please visit https://myanmar.ifpri.info.