Documenting the application of the Myanmar Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy

This paper documents the testimonials of those who implemented the Myanmar Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy (MCSAS) and accounts of those who experienced its application on the ground. Success stories and challenges in implementing MCSAS were documented. Based on the stakeholder interviews conducted, MCSAS is proven to be a valuable document in guiding the implementation of context-specific climate actions in Myanmar. Nineteen government and NGO programs, four policy documents, and an estimate of one billion USD investments were influenced by MCSAS. Following the MCSAS, the National Climate-Smart Agriculture Center of Yezin Agricultural University was established in 2018. Several projects focusing on farmers, particularly the Climate-Smart Village in the Dry Zone and the Farmer Field School in the Delta Zone, were also studied to understand the depth of the influence of MCSAS. In these cases, climate-smart practices adopted have helped farmers coped with climate change and increased their household incomes. Nevertheless, suggestions were made to further improve the Strategy with more specific actions that could be implemented and the funding options that implementers could pursue. The Strategy also needs to be integrated into the current programs of the government and its contents translated in the local language in a format that local people can understand

Economic Assessment of Climate Adaptation Options in Myanmar Rice-Based Farming System

Agriculture is highly sensitive to climate change and understandings how the adaptation options improve the farming household’s adaptive capacity are critical to the agricultural policies. The study was carried out for the economic assessment of climate adaption options in rice-based farming system of Myanmar. The propensity score matching approach was applied to explore the existing adaptation options and its contribution on the farm income. In addition, the binary probit model was used to analyse the factors influencing those adaptation decisions. The erratic rainfall, especially dry spell period and unexpected rain during the critical crop growth, was the critical challenge of rice-based farming in the study. The timely operation of farm machineries was one of the major adaptation options for the farmers, followed by other options such as use of more agrochemicals and changing rice varieties including early maturity, high yielding and stress tolerant varieties. The combination of those adaptations gave additional 0.86-0.89 ton/ha yield, 152-158 USD/ha total return and 108-124 USD/ha profit to the adapter farmers. The institutional factors such as irrigation access, access to credit, access to weekly weather information and participation to agricultural training were critically important to the adaptation decision. Moreover, the social capital factors like farming experience, farm size and farm income share were also major influencing variables

Do Farmers Perceive the Trends of Local Climate Variability Accurately? An Analysis of Farmers’ Perceptions and Meteorological Data in Myanmar

With the existing state of issues related to global climate change, the accuracy of farmers’ perceptions of climate is critically important if they plan to implement appropriate adaptation measures in their farming. This article evaluated if farmers perceive the trends of local climate variability accurately, and was verified by the historical meteorological data analysis. Ordered probit perception models were applied in this study to determine the factors influencing the accuracy of farmer perception. It was observed that farmers’ perceptions of the rainfall amount during the early, mid, and late monsoon periods were highly accurate, and they also accurately perceived summer temperature change, but less accuracy of perception was observed of the temperate changes of the winter and monsoon seasons. Access to weekly weather information, participation in agricultural trainings, farming experience, and education level of the farmer were the major factors determining the accuracy of perception in this study. Based on the empirical results, this study suggested policy implications for (a) the locally specified weather information distribution, and (b) integration of weather information into agricultural training programs, which are available to the farming community to enhance the government implantation of the Myanmar Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy and Myanmar Climate Change Master Plan 2018–2030

Economic Assessment of Climate Adaptation Options in Myanmar Rice-Based Farming System

Agriculture is highly sensitive to climate change and understandings how the adaptation options improve the farming household’s adaptive capacity are critical to the agricultural policies. The study was carried out for the economic assessment of climate adaption options in rice-based farming system of Myanmar. The propensity score matching approach was applied to explore the existing adaptation options and its contribution on the farm income. In addition, the binary probit model was used to analyse the factors influencing those adaptation decisions. The erratic rainfall, especially dry spell period and unexpected rain during the critical crop growth, was the critical challenge of rice-based farming in the study. The timely operation of farm machineries was one of the major adaptation options for the farmers, followed by other options such as use of more agrochemicals and changing rice varieties including early maturity, high yielding and stress tolerant varieties. The combination of those adaptations gave additional 0.86-0.89 ton/ha yield, 152-158 USD/ha total return and 108-124 USD/ha profit to the adapter farmers. The institutional factors such as irrigation access, access to credit, access to weekly weather information and participation to agricultural training were critically important to the adaptation decision. Moreover, the social capital factors like farming experience, farm size and farm income share were also major influencing variables

Clinical Profile of Intermediate Syndrome in Organophosphate Poisoning

Organophosphate (OP) poisoning is a major global health problem, causing over 200,000 deaths annually especially in developing countries. In Poison Treatment Center, New Yangon General Hospital, Myanmar, OP poisoning accounts for 14% of total poison admission in 2013, 17% in 2014 and 10.3% in 2015 respectively

Do Farmers Perceive the Trends of Local Climate Variability Accurately? An Analysis of Farmers’ Perceptions and Meteorological Data in Myanmar

With the existing state of issues related to global climate change, the accuracy of farmers’ perceptions of climate is critically important if they plan to implement appropriate adaptation measures in their farming. This article evaluated if farmers perceive the trends of local climate variability accurately, and was verified by the historical meteorological data analysis. Ordered probit perception models were applied in this study to determine the factors influencing the accuracy of farmer perception. It was observed that farmers’ perceptions of the rainfall amount during the early, mid, and late monsoon periods were highly accurate, and they also accurately perceived summer temperature change, but less accuracy of perception was observed of the temperate changes of the winter and monsoon seasons. Access to weekly weather information, participation in agricultural trainings, farming experience, and education level of the farmer were the major factors determining the accuracy of perception in this study. Based on the empirical results, this study suggested policy implications for (a) the locally specified weather information distribution, and (b) integration of weather information into agricultural training programs, which are available to the farming community to enhance the government implantation of the Myanmar Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy and Myanmar Climate Change Master Plan 2018−2030

Do Farmers Perceive the Trends of Local Climate Variability Accurately? An Analysis of Farmers’ Perceptions and Meteorological Data in Myanmar

With the existing state of issues related to global climate change, the accuracy of farmers’ perceptions of climate is critically important if they plan to implement appropriate adaptation measures in their farming. This article evaluated if farmers perceive the trends of local climate variability accurately, and was verified by the historical meteorological data analysis. Ordered probit perception models were applied in this study to determine the factors influencing the accuracy of farmer perception. It was observed that farmers’ perceptions of the rainfall amount during the early, mid, and late monsoon periods were highly accurate, and they also accurately perceived summer temperature change, but less accuracy of perception was observed of the temperate changes of the winter and monsoon seasons. Access to weekly weather information, participation in agricultural trainings, farming experience, and education level of the farmer were the major factors determining the accuracy of perception in this study. Based on the empirical results, this study suggested policy implications for (a) the locally specified weather information distribution, and (b) integration of weather information into agricultural training programs, which are available to the farming community to enhance the government implantation of the Myanmar Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy and Myanmar Climate Change Master Plan 2018−2030

Study on Food Security Status and Coping Strategies of Rural Households in Myingyan Township, Dry Zone Area

This study was emphasized to estimate the food security status and coping strategies employed to food insecurity and better understanding of major determinants of per capita food expenditure at household level in Myingyan Township. The sample of 120 farm households and 77 landless households were interviewed in 6 villages by using simple random sampling method. Households’ daily calorie availability based on minimum capita daily food requirement 2100 kcal/person/day, food poverty line method and coping strategies method were used to fulfill the research objectives. There were 48% of landless and 45% of farm households in food insecure group. Landless and farm households used 90% and 72% of their total income for food consumption respectively. In terms of average capita calorie intake per day, landless and farm households took 2127 kcal and 2181 kcal, respectively. Landless consumed 508 MMK whereas farm households consume 596 MMK as per capita daily food expenditure. Food secure households group was characterized by smaller family size, higher annual income, higher rice and meat consumption and lower migration rate compared to the food insecure group. About half of the landless and farm households were found in low level of coping strategies for food insecurity