Myanmar
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Photo: Benny Manser/Mercy Corps -
Fifty-five-year-old Daw Than Than Shwe, a mother of two, grows 27 acres of rice in Kyu Taw village in Myanmar's Irawaddy Delta. Since the cyclone, Mercy Corps has been helping Daw Than Than Shwe and 131 other rice farmers in her village by creating a seed bank. Each participating farmer member received 60,000 Kyat — about $80 U.S. — for seeds and fertilizer. After each harvest, they put some of their rice seed into storage as insurance against future crop failures. So far, all of the farmers have contributed their share. Five of Daw Than Than Shwe's acres are also planted with improved seeds provided by Mercy Corps. The (non-GMO) seeds yield more rice and show better resistance to droughts and pests than the rice currently used to plant fields. Photo: Benny Manser/Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Make vulnerable communities more food secure and resilient to climate change, while enhancing economic opportunities, strengthening civil society, and improving health and nutrition.
The context
Recent large political reforms have resulted in opposition parties, relaxed media censorship, and thawing relations with countries like the United States. Yet Myanmar’s socio-economic situation remains extremely dire. Heavy reliance on agriculture for livelihoods makes communities vulnerable to droughts, floods and tropical cyclones, all of which are liable to increase in intensity with climate change.
Our work
- Agriculture & Food: Providing tools, high-quality seeds and skill-building to boost rice production; funding roads and other infrastructure to connect remote farmers to markets
- Economic opportunity: Running resource centers for vocational and agricultural training and resources that grow household incomes
- Women & Gender: Helping women organize village vegetable gardens that provide food for their families and turn them into businesses for additional income
All stories about Myanmar
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Myanmar: Buffalo dominoes July 18, 2011
During the eight-hour drive from Yangon to Myanmar’s Delta region, I’d seen lots of beautiful water buffalo hanging out in mud by the side of the dirt roads, flicking their ears lazily. Farmers across the delta rely on them to help plough their land, so they’re a common sight.
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Myanmar: Small animals bring big dreams February 11, 2011
Cyclone Nargis, which devastated large swaths of Myanmar (known also as Burma) in 2008, took everything from residents like 59-year-old Daw Hla Kyi — including her livestock.
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Myanmar: Responding to Cyclone Giri November 15, 2010
Mercy Corps has dispatched an assessment team to Myanmar's western coast in the wake of a cyclone that has left 71,000 people homeless, according to UN estimates.
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Myanmar: Regrowing the Garden June 18, 2009
Life here in Bo Kone, Myanmar, a village of about a thousand people, has never been easy. Located on an isolated island in the Irrawaddy Delta, it's about an hour's boat ride to the nearest town.
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Myanmar: Helping Myanmar, one year after the storm May 21, 2009
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Myanmar: Burmese farmers caught in poverty trap May 13, 2009
Farming communities in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta have always followed a cycle of debt. Each year, wealthy land owners would lend farmers money, tools and cattle needed to till the soil. After the harvest, the debt is repayed and the cycle continues.
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Myanmar: Field interview: Michael Gabriel December 15, 2008
Mercy Corps' work in Myanmar in the months following the devastating cyclone that struck in the country in May 2008 has begun moving from disaster relief to longer-term recovery work.
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Myanmar: Taking Charge of the Recovery December 8, 2008
Kan Bet, Myanmar - In my four years at Mercy Corps, I have often heard colleagues talk about "community mobilization" as something central to our approach in the field, but to be completely honest, I never really understood it.
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Myanmar: Kitchen Gardens in Bo Kone December 8, 2008
Bo Kone, Myanmar — Life here in Bo Kone, a village of about 1,000 people, has never been easy. Located on an isolated island in the Irrawaddy Delta, it's about an hour's boat ride to the nearest town.
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Myanmar: Work on the Playground December 8, 2008
Be Toot, Myanmar — To be honest, it doesn't look like much: a group of 20 or so people moving clumps of mud from one spot to another in a field surrounded by a few buildings. But this is an important project, insists Mercy Corps program manager Mra Sabai Nyun.