Myanmar Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy 2015.

Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy (CSA) seeks to optimize the benefits and minimize the negative trade-offs across food security, agricultural development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The key elements of CSA include food security by increasing agricultural productivity, resilience of agricultural systems through adaptation, and mitigation by reducing GHG emission or enhancing carbon sequestration and managing interfaces with other land use management. The CSA encompasses the development of technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve a sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition through climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture. Myanmar has committed to apply CSA to contribute to regional food security and environmental protection during the 24th ASEAN Summit on May 10, 2014. The MOAI and the MLFRD have laid down polices, objectives and strategies for the development of the agriculture sector, putting priority on food security and rural poverty reduction. Climate change affects men and women differently. Likewise, they each respond to climate change differently. Training and extension education regarding CSA technologies should enhance women’s participation. The development of gender-informed climate policy is required.
By 2030, Myanmar aims, achieve food security and nutrition and climate resiliency, with a globally competitive agriculture sector attaining high productivity through climate-smart good agricultural practices (GAP) resulting in higher standard of living especially in the rural areas. Feeding the country’s population in the context of climate change will require gradual and significant expansion of agricultural products. Climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture sector will have to be pursued in the context of food security and nutrition. Although there are practices that hold great potential to address climate challenges, there is no national policy framework within which to build on and operate. Given this situation, early action holds great potential for Myanmar to take positive action in the short run that can inform national policy. The ability to act depends on improved measurement systems, tools and techniques for adaptation and mitigation.
Increasing population pressure and the resulting need for food and energy, additionally climate change impacts, will lead to increased competition for land and water resources in particular among the agriculture, livestock, forestry and other sectors. Aimed at sharing, promoting and cooperating towards the implementation of integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and forestry sectors, including response to climate-related disasters, Myanmar will cooperate with ASEAN, Japan, China, Korea and other countries.
Myanmar’s CSA strategy should be socially, culturally and politically appropriate, environment-friendly and economically feasible to promote and attain sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition, agricultural development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. CSA also aims to provide context and analysis for addressing agriculture in international climate negotiations to better inform climate negotiators and other stakeholders by identifying options and unpacking issues of interest. As part of the CSA strategy, conservation agriculture, conservation of crop/ species diversity, integrated soil management, pest and disease management, agro-forestry, intercropping practices, improved water management and integrated crop-livestock management will be pursued in Myanmar.