Myanmar

The capital and main city is Yangon.
The official language is Burmese
Area: 261,228 sq mi (approx. 3x the size of the State of Michigan)
Population approx. 52 million in 2014
Climate: Myanmar lies in the monsoon region of Asia, with its coastal regions receiving over 5,000 mm (196.9 in) of rain annually

Fun Fact: Myanmar has the largest book in the world. The book is situated in Kuthodaw pagoda in Mandalay. It has 1460 pages and 730 leaves. Each page is 107cm (3.51 ft) wide, 13cm (5.1 in) thick and 153cm (5.02 ft) tall!

Main Research Themes

News

Anticipate, Mitigate, Monitor: A Rapid Research Response for COVID-19 Policy Guidance in Myanmar’s Agrifood System

Published on October 1, 2020
Prepared by Joseph Goeb, Mywish Maredia, and Duncan Boughton on behalf of the Myanmar Agricultural Support Activity (MAPSA) research team
FSP Leaves a Major Impact on Myanmar and its Young Agricultural Researchers

Published on November 22, 2019
AFRE researchers in the FSP program spent 5 years studying Myanmar's agricultural transformation in an effort to inform policy and promote the country's research capacity.
FSP Research Featured in The Economist

Published on September 13, 2019
Research by AFRE graduate student Myat Thida Win and Associate Professor Ben Belton regarding agricultural mechanization in Myanmar has been featured in The Economist. This research was funded by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy.
Seminar on Myanmar’s Rural Transformation at MSU

Published on May 16, 2019
Dr. Ben Belton, will be discussing recent findings of large scale surveys implemented by FSP in Myanmar and the need for policies in order to support successful livelihood diversification and leverage greater value from existing agri-food value chains.
Myanmar's Rural Revolution: Mechanization & Structural Transformation

Published on November 1, 2018
What's the disconnect between evidence of a dynamic and rapidly transforming economy, and the widely reported low levels of agricultural mechanization? by Myat Thida Win, Ben Belton, and Xiaobo Zhang.

Page 1 of 4

Publications and Presentations

Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia's uplands

Published on October 3, 2022
Belton, B., & Fang, P. (2022). Hybrid livelihoods: Maize and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia’s uplands. Journal of Rural Studies, 95, 521–532.
Preferences for pandemic recovery policies: Perspectives of Myanmar agri-food system participants

Published on September 6, 2022
Maredia, M. K., Goeb, J., Ortega, D. L., Synt, N. L. K., & Zu, A. M. (2022). Preferences for pandemic recovery policies: Perspectives of Myanmar agri‐food system participants. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Urban food prices under lockdown: evidence from Myanmar's traditional food retail sector during COVID-19,

Published on March 9, 2022
Goeb, J., Maredia, M., Win, K.z., Masias, I., Lambrecht, I., Boughton D., & Minten, B. (2022). Urban food prices under lockdown: evidence from Myanmar's traditional food retail sector during COVID-19. Applied Economics.
Food prices, processing, and shocks: Evidence from rice and COVID-19

Published on October 12, 2021
Goeb, Joseph; Zone, Phoo Pye; Synt, Nang Lun Kham; Zu, A Myint; Tang, Yulu; and Minten, Bart. (2021). Food prices, processing, and shocks: Evidence from rice and COVID-19. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 73(2): 338-355.
COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa’s aquatic food value chains

Published on July 1, 2021
Belton, B., Rosen, L., Middleton. L., et al. (2021). "COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa's aquatic food value chains." Marine Policy 129, 104523.