Burma (Myanmar)

ACIAR’s program in Burma has been fully aligned with the Australian Government’s approach to development assistance in that country. This approach is in recognition that over one-third of young children in Burma are moderately or severely underweight. Even though the nation is self-sufficient in food on an overall basis, many families spend 70% of their income on food, and prices are rising. There is general agreement that millions of people are currently enduring substantial hardship, and the situation is urgent enough to require humanitarian action. In the absence of changes in the country’s policy settings and institutional arrangements, providing the most disadvantaged farmers with the means of increasing agricultural productivity will remain one of the few options in the short term to alleviate this humanitarian crisis.

ACIAR’s aim is to continue to work predominantly through international organisations and NGOs, including Australian-accredited organisations. Working with agencies with a long-standing 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) on improving 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.