Sustainable Cropland and Forest Management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar

©FAO/A. K. Kimoto

Myanmar is challenged by high dependency on wood energy, high percentage of population in rural areas, low agricultural productivity and past decades of overharvesting in forests and unstainable land management. Current land management regimes are fragmented and there is limited capacity to generate ecosystem-based approaches. Rural Myanmar therefore faces serious land degradation, forest degradation and climate change threats.  

What the project does

This project supports national efforts in dismantling the existing barriers that prevent broadly applying and upscaling best practices for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Sustainable Land Management (SLM).

The project will support the Government of Myanmar in its continued efforts to improve legislation and policies and strengthen CSA, SFM and SLM through building the national capacity at all levels including communities in order to promote a more sustainable and integrated management of forests and agricultural lands of Myanmar.

Focus on 4 main components

The overall project objective is to build the capacity of farming and forestry stakeholders to mitigate climate change and improve land condition by adopting climate smart agriculture (CSA) and sustainable forest management (SFM) policies and practices.

The project is structured into four interlinked components

The project is structured into four interlinked components

Component 1 Institutional, policy and regulatory frameworks strengthened to support SLM, CSA and SFM

Sub-component 1. A. Comprehensive program to enable regulatory / institutional framework assessment, strengthening and capacity building

Sub-component 1. B.  Program for improved land us management and planning to inform institutional and regulatory improvements

Component 2 Models for CSA practices demonstrated and enhancing carbon storage in three priority agro-ecosystems

Sub-component 2. A.  Program for CSA support services

Sub-component 2. B.  Program for farmer CSA capacity building

Component 3 Models for SFM practices demonstrated and enhancing carbon storage in three priority agro-ecosystems

Sub-component 3. A. Program for improved forest planning

Sub-component 3. B. Program for community-based forest conservation

Component 4 SLM, SFM and CSA knowledge management, training and practices scaling up nationally

Sub-component 4. A.  Support program for up-scaling SFM practices

Sub-component 4. B. Support program for up-scaling CSA practices

Project area

The project works at national, sub-national and community level. The project will have a solid field component consisting of Farmer Field Schools and Community Based Forestry activities which will build capacities of farmers and communities and identify best practices for up-scaling in three agro-ecological zones:

In the Delta, the primary focus for the capacity building is on climate smart paddy farming, alternative crops, water management and mangrove protection.

In the Central Dry Zone, focus is on reforestation and afforestation, water saving agricultural techniques, agro-forestry and annual crops.

In Chin State, focus is on community based forest management, shifting cultivation and addressing the forest and cropland components through complementary strategies.