A regional perspective on poverty in Myanmar - United Nations ...

Poverty in Myanmar 34
Losses from calamities
The final indicator shows the exposure of the S/R to calamities. It only reflects the situation of the
median poor. Lower values are better.
Ayeyarwady
Land holding
Underemployment
gap
Losses from
calamities
Poverty rate
10
8
6
4
2
0
Poverty decline
Poverty gap
PPI
Loans
Poverty inertia
Utilities share
Food share
Inequality
21 In relation to most other S/R, Ayeyarwady’s radar chart looks rather balanced. It performed well in
terms of poverty and reduction and inequality, and its larger landholdings provide space for some
mechanisation and scale economies. Its major problem, however, are the calamities due to which the
State loses on average 11.4% of the harvest. Given the specific geographic location and the presence
of the delta, it will be very costly to protect a substantial part of the agricultural land against floods -
the flood prone area increased significantly in recent years. And it is almost impossible to protect the
fields against storms. But alone by a sustained fight against pests, Ayeyarwady could reduce its losses
to 8% only. Flood and storm prone agricultural production should therefore slowly shift to those
areas which are, or can be, protected. An encouragement of farming in the negatively affected areas,
well-meant as it is, will only contribute to many bankruptcies and impoverishments of farming
households. Would the State Government provide full crop insurance to affected farmers, thus
taking the risk of farming on its own budget?
Ayeyarwady is often referred to as the rice bowl of the country, which again was once the rice bowl
of Asia. But Myanmar’s revealed competitive advantage (RC) in rice is not large, and rather delicate.
And while Ayeyarwady’s paddy yield per acre belongs to the highest in the country, it is not
necessarily the most productive. According to figures of the Settlement & Land Records Department
(2012), Ayeyarwady has no, or rather negative, land available for development. This implies that
improvements in agricultural output can only occur through productivity increases, and through
further land consolidation. Though the State has already achieved national average in terms of
median landholding, more could and would have to be done.
21 This chapter’s recommendations draw on the work of Dolly Kyaw