Burma (Myanmar)

Australia’s strategic approach to aid in Burma (Myanmar) is to improve the lives of the Burmese people in the short term and help support improved capacity to design and deliver essential services and encourage reform in the long term. To achieve this goal, Australia is currently providing support to activities that target immediate needs in the health, education, and livelihoods and food security sectors. The focus is on strengthening the capacity of people and organisations in these sectors, as well as supporting vulnerable populations across Burma and on the borders with Thailand and Bangladesh. ACIAR’s program is fully aligned with the above approach of the Australian Government, targeting vulnerable populations to improve nutrition and food security. The main aim of the program is to develop a small number of multilateral collaborative research projects that can have positive impacts, either directly or through increases in farmers’ cash incomes. Projects are based in similar agroecological zones to those in Australia—the central dry zone and the tropical lowlands. There is a strong need for training due to the isolation of many of Burma’s agricultural scientists from international cooperation over recent years.

ACIAR’s aim is to continue to work predominantly through international organisations and NGOs, including Australian-accredited organisations. Working with agencies with a longstanding presence on the ground has proved that it is possible to deliver assistance in an effective and accountable way. For example, promising results have been achieved in a multilateral ACIAR project led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (India) on improving the productivity of legumes in the central dry zone of Burma. Based on the achievements of these projects and scoping missions, ACIAR has developed a new framework for assistance for Burma. However, the implementation of any new programs hinges on political developments in Burma securing favourable and sufficient access to enable ACIAR to effectively deliver, monitor and assess project activities.