True or Not, so What, #7

In Myanmar, consumer expenditure on fish is at par with rice.

Not True
Compared to rice, food expenditure for fish is lagging
by about four percentage points. Fish consumption is 14% of food expenditure compared to 18% for rice. However, fish is considered a staple food in Myanmar and its consumption is growing rapidly. (Source: Ben Belton, Aung Hein, Kyan Htoo, L. Seng Kham, Aye Sandar Phyoe, Thomas Reardon. 2017. The Emerging Quiet Revolution in Myanmar’s Aquaculture Chain. Aquaculture. June 21, 2017)

so What?
Farmed fish is a rapidly expanding economic sector in Myanmar. The great majority of farmed fish is sold to the fast growing domestic market. Although large fish farms dominate in terms of total pond area, a small/medium farm segment has emerged quickly. This has given rise to a “dualistic” fish farm sector, with many small/medium farmers and nurseries alongside large farms. The take-off of small/medium farms has been helped by the “informal relaxation” of restrictions prohibiting the conversion of paddy land to ponds in the main fish farming zones.