FAO in Myanmar

COVID-19 impacts on agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing communities in selected regions and states in Myanmar

21/07/2020

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) assessments of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing sectors show that measures to control the spread of COVID-19 have affected people’s way of life in Mandalay, Ayeyarwady, the Yangon Regions, and Chin and Rakhine States.

The assessments conducted in April and May 2020 are intended for use by the government, as well as other stakeholders. Furthermore, the assessments are intended to assist in the identification of the community’s needs and facilitate coordinated decision-making by the government and align FAO’s assistance with the formulation of response actions to support affected communities.

Overall, the findings of the surveys by the FishAdapt and SLM projects show that COVID-19 related restrictions have significant adverse effects on every aspect of food production, market access, produce prices, the quality and price of agricultural inputs, food availability, employment, and income generation in all communities where the research was undertaken.

Jose Parajua, Chief Technical Advisor of the FishAdapt project, said, “We have shifted our focus to addressing immediate challenges with special emphasis on improving the livelihood opportunities in the 120 communities where we operate.  From July 2020, we expect to begin providing  fish seeds for freshwater fish farming, training for aquaculture workers, and community sensitization in response to the findings of the assessment.”

In commenting on the SLM’s response efforts, Senior Technical Advisor Xavier Bouan stated that the SLM project has expanded its school garden program. In addition, the operationalization of the home gardening programs in five project townships to ensure nutrition, food security, and livelihoods has commenced.

The SLM project will also provide nutrient-rich seed packages and key nutritional messages to improve home gardens, ensure future food availability, provide quick cash for work activities related the establishment of nurseries connect to afforestation in the Delta, integrate key nutrition and WASH messages in communications campaigns, and continue existing SLM project training.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis that, as the evidence suggests, is already affecting Myanmar’s food and agriculture sector. Prompt measures to ensure that domestic and international food supply chains remain viable are necessary to mitigate the risk of large shocks that would have a considerable impact on everybody, especially the poor and the most vulnerable.

As part of its COVID-19 response, the FAO’s priorities are to provide timely information to support the government in anticipating and mitigating the pandemic’s impacts on civilians’ food security and livelihoods. Therefore, the FAO undertook these surveys to acquire a snapshot of the effects of the rapid changes caused by COVID-19 and provide recommendations for the government and the FAO to support farmers and address the challenges facing the agriculture and food sectors.

In its report, the FAO has identified priorities with policy recommendations as well for the government’s consideration when formulating their responsive plan in relation to food and nutrition effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include targeted COVID-19 communication campaigns in rural areas, cash for work activities through the manufacture and rehabilitation of village infrastructure, establishment of digital communication systems for animal health and production, funding support for livestock inputs and market connectivity, livestock production related educational activities for employment opportunities, fish seeds, and training for aquaculture workers.

In the future, the FAO will continue to collect, monitor and analyze information with their pros and cons to support the government to mitigate COVID-19 risks for agricultural and food systems.