Under IFAD funded project ‘ATMI-ASEAN’ and in collaboration with SEARCA Myanmar stives to develop of agricultural value chains and support farmers in Myanmar and Southeast Asia
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MOALI) of Myanmar has launched its national pulses roadmap for Scaling Up Myanmar Pulses Value Chain (2021–25).
The roadmap was developed under the recently completed International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded project, “Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns” (ATMI-ASEAN). The project was co-implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
U Min Naung, MOALI union minister, opened the program in presence of IFAD, IFPRI, and SEARCA, who are involved in technical assistance and capacity-building to develop the national pulses roadmap. The MOALI’s the national pulses roadmap is an accomplishment of the ATMI-ASEAN project, in association with SEARCA supporting the development of agricultural value chains and elevate the quality of life of agricultural families in Myanmar and the whole Southeast Asian region. Further collaboration between the two agencies particularly in areas of human resource development, project management, and agricultural extension.
Minister U Min Naung said, “Being one of the largest producers and exporters of pulses in the world, Myanmar’s development of its national pulses roadmap is essential for its economy and sustained prosperity”.
The roadmap is in line with the country’s existing policies and strategies. The roadmap aims to foster a demand-driven pulses sector that is propelled by modernization, diversification, intensification, and value-addition. Also, Minister U Min Naung encouraged all pulses value chain actors to work together to achieve the goal of having a globally competitive pulses industry that could support the livelihood and socioeconomic wellbeing of smallholder farmers in Myanmar.
The roadmap envisions a “progressive and productive pulses sector through a more inclusive, integrated, resilient, and globally competitive and recognized pulses value chain to contribute to rural economic growth of Myanmar,” said Director General U Kyaw Swe Lin of the Department of Planning of MOALI.
Myanmar has been continuously producing 7.28 million metric tons of pulses annually. With this, MOALI intends to focus more on value addition rather than the export of raw pulses. Myanmar is one of the five Southeast Asian countries that were supported by the ATMI-ASEAN project in developing and implementing policies and programs that would help the integration of smallholders in the regional agricultural and food markets.
