In Myanmar, the poverty gap between rural and urban areas, where agriculture is a major industry, is growing, and there is a need to increase farmers’ income through improving agricultural productivity and adding value to agricultural products. However, in Myanmar, there are many small-scale farmers, and in addition to their lack of knowledge and skills in farming, farmers are not well organized, lack the ability to negotiate prices with intermediate distributors, lack market information on agricultural product prices, and have limited access to finance in response to the rising prices of agricultural inputs and materials such as fertilizers and pesticides. These are some of the challenges. In addition, the distribution of illegal pesticides such as imitations, lack of accurate data on their efficacy, lack of testing for pesticide residues, and farmers’ lack of knowledge about pesticide use have increased the threat to the public’s food safety due to excessive use of pesticides during the growing stage.
This cooperation aims to establish a horticultural value chain that will lead to increased income for farmers and contribute to the diffusion of the horticultural value chain throughout the country by providing technical guidance on production, distribution, and marketing of high quality crops that meet market demand, including food safety, at the pilot site, and by supporting the strengthening of the government system in the country. The project will contribute to the spread of the horticultural value chain throughout the country.
© Source JICA