Agricultural Sector Review and Investment Strategy - Volume 2.

This Agricultural Sector Review and Investment Strategy - Volume 2 is a nationwide policy document. The goal is: Accelerated, sustainable growth in the rural sector which especially benefits poor and disadvantaged households.
The Investment Strategy seeks to help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Specific investments proposed under the crop sub-sector include: cultivable waste land reclamation; dry land area development; production planning and directed production study; production and utilisation of improved seed; etc. Investment profiles for projects under the irrigation and water resource sub-sector are: irrigation management policy development; irrigation modernization and expansion programme; small-scale irrigation and water management programme; capacity building in irrigation and water resource management.
The Investment Strategy seeks to make agriculture, fisheries more productive and sustainable. For instance, for livestock sub-sector, the Investment Strategy calls to maximise the output efficiency of commercial and traditional livestock production units throughout Myanmar, while indicates that such increases in production must be consistent with sound environmental practice and the resulting livestock products should comply with human health standards and be suitable for export.
The Investment Strategy seeks to reduce rural poverty. Major goals for social and community development are: − helping rural people set the priorities for development in their communities, and supporting their access to governmental and non-governmental funding in promoting local economic development; − creating greater equality in access to natural resources in rural areas, through increased user-rights for occupied land, improved access to cultivable waste lands, participatory management of forest areas, and greater local control over water resources (for irrigation, fishery and aquaculture); − increasing access to rural financial services for all those in need through provision of adequate resources, user-friendly policy framework, training and capacity building; − improving access to community services through the provision of physical infrastructure and social services such as drinking water, sanitation, transport, schooling, health and family planning; − increasing both farm and non-farm production in rural areas, and increasing the incomes of poor rural men and women; − assisting vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities through required social protection programmes; and − ensuring the safety and security of rural people. Overall four broad strategic poverty-focused areas for action are identified, including: (i) the development of a national level policy and institution for tackling and reducing rural poverty; (ii) the strengthening of the national level capacity to collect, monitor and evaluate information on rural households, communities and poverty; (iii) the strengthening of local capacity, both within Government agencies and in communities themselves, to determine needs, priorities and initiatives; and (iv) the creation of a pilot community development fund that will catalyse and support such local initiatives.
The Investment Strategy promotes to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems. It indicates that the lack of location specific farming system-relevant technologies and an overall poor extension capacity to offer these to rural communities is a critical weakness. Strengthened research and extension is a vital input for successful crop production development. As far as crop production is concerned the following themes require high priority: (a) integrated balanced plant nutrition; (b) generation and extension of high quality improved seeds and planting materials; (c) integrated pest and disease management; (d) soil and water conservation in rain-fed areas; and (e) improved water management in irrigated areas. For livestock sub-sector, specific proposed investments include: review of livestock sub-sector regulations and policy; strengthening of national disease control capacity; support for small-holder dairy production; establishment of a village-based newcastle disease programme. In addition, vision for the investment on fisheries sector is established as: The fisheries sector will provide sustainable maximum quantities of high quality fish and generate direct benefits to rural and urban populations in the form of increased health and prosperity as well as sustainable national income from exports. Incorporation of small-scale fish ponds into farming systems is also included in the specific proposed investments proposed under the sub-sector. A vision for agro-industry in Myanmar is identified to enable the role that the industry will play in the greater context of the agricultural sector and agricultural development. The vision for agro-industry is set as: A dynamic, competitive and profitable sector which increases the value of agricultural output while providing markets and the best possible prices to agricultural producers.
The Investment Strategy supports to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters. Such investment directions include conducting a hydrological modeling study of the Ayeyarwady river basin in order to assess the impact of increased storage and flood protection on the basin hydrology and the basin environment; improved rural finance; etc.