Ayeyarwady Delta 3CRP Scoping Mission

02nd to 07th February 2014

Summary of key findings and proposed next steps

WorldFish (AAS) / IRRI (GRiSP) / IWMI (WLE)

IRRI: Grant Singleton, Madonna Casimero, Elizabeth Humphreys, Matty Demont IWMI: Matthew McCartney, Chu Thai Hoanh, Sonali Senaratna, Srabani Roy WorldFish: Gareth Johnstone, Michael Phillips, Ranjitha Puskur, Kam Suan Pheng, Tezzo Xavier

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank staff from the Myanmar Department of Fisheries for their assistance in organizing the logistics for this scoping mission with a special thanks to U Khin Maung Soe who organized much of the logistics for the dry-run and scoping missions. They also extend their thanks to the numerous people who kindly gave their time for interviews and focus group discussions. Financial support for the mission was provided by the CGIAR Research Programs: i) the Global Rice Science Partnership, ii) Aquatic Agricultural Systems, and iii) Water Land and Ecosystems.

Contents Acknowledgements ...... i Executive Summary ...... iii Acronyms and Abbreviations ...... v SECTION 1: Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Background ...... 1 1.2 Objectives of the scoping mission...... 3 1.3 Methodology ...... 3 1.4 Geographic coverage and sites visited...... 5 1.5 Key findings: opportunities and challenges ...... 7 1.6 Integrating the three CRPs ...... 9 1.7 Summary of experience from cross CGIAR center collaboration in the region ...... 9 SECTION 2: Perspectives from the scoping mission ...... 11 2.1 Markets, value chains and private sector ...... 11 2.2 Productivity, NRM and ecosystem services and resilience ...... 15 2.3 Institutions and governance ...... 18 2.4 Livelihoods, poverty and gender ...... 22 2.5 Information management, capacity building, GIS ...... 26 2.6 Partnerships and scaling ...... 31 SECTION 3: What next? ...... 34 3.1 Description of opportunities (short and long term ...... 34 3.2 Possible framework for joint CRP studies in Myanmar ...... 36 3.3 Possible coordination and funding of joint activities ...... 37 3.4 Some initial joint activities and preparation steps ...... 38 References ...... 39 Appendix A: Ayeyarwady Delta Dry Run Report ...... 40 Appendix B: Itinerary for 3 CRP scoping mission in the Delta (Maubin, Pyapon and Bogalay) ...... 45 Appendix C: List of people met ...... 47 Appendix D: Terms of Reference ...... 49 Appendix E: Recent examples of cross CGIAR centre collaboration in the region ...... 51

Executive Summary Covering an area of 35,136 km2 and with a population of over 8 million the Ayeyarwady River Delta in Myanmar is one of Asia’s mega deltas. Despite being naturally highly productive and contributing significantly to the national economy, it is one of the poorest regions in the country. Rates of poverty, food poverty and under-5 malnutrition are high and exceed those in most other regions of the country.

Between 02nd and 07th February 2014, researchers from IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI, as well as national partners, participated in a scoping mission to the Delta. The purpose of this mission was to gain a broad and shared understanding of the aquatic and agricultural development challenges for poor men and women in the Delta (including up-stream drivers) and identify opportunities for the CGIAR, particularly the three CRPs (AAS, GRiSP and WLE), to collaborate with Myanmar in a joint research and development initiative to address these challenges.

To gain insights into the key agricultural development challenges, and provide context and background, the mission travelled to key locations in the Delta and met with a wide range of people from government, NGOs and academic institutions. The members of the scoping mission team, worked together in both thematic groups based on their specific area of expertise and also in cross- disciplinary groups. Focus group discussions were conducted with key stakeholders from the fishery, agriculture and irrigation sectors. These discussions centred on key problems, identifying causes, opportunities and constraints, as well as future aspirations. Short term (3-5 years) and long term (3- 10 years) research and development opportunities in the Delta were identified. A debriefing session was conducted with donors, partners and government representatives, in Yangon, on the final day of the mission.

The mission found that there are a large number of existing and emerging issues that undermine the capability of the rural sector to improve productivity, incomes, nutrition and food security in the Delta. These include:

• high levels of poverty, food insecurity and under nutrition amongst smallholders and the landless who are locked into vicious cycles of deprivation; • high inequity and limited economic opportunities for smallholders and landless; • low and inefficient productivity of systems due to challenging and uncertain biophysical environment; weak management systems to optimize water and land use; climate change; environmental degradation; labor shortages; inadequate access to and availability of technologies, knowledge and information; • unequal and inadequate access to productive resources and assets (land, water, boats, extension and market services, financial products) and limited co-ordination in markets/value chains, which appears to be compounded by increasing privatization and conversion of land to paddy and ponds; • limited integration across agriculture and aquaculture (farm and landscapes) that reduces the potential for diversification and optimizing the use of land and water and leads to conflicts between capture fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture; • a weak policy and institutional environment that undermines the ability to tackle poverty and improve incomes and environmental services; • environmental degradation (i.e. mangrove loss and fisheries degradation as a consequence of agro-chemical use), increasing variability and declining resilience that is increasingly evident towards the central and southern reaches of the Delta.

iii

The mission found close alignment between the development outcomes sought by the CGIAR, skills and experiences of the three CRPs in Myanmar and deltaic regions of Asia, and the development challenges faced in the Ayeyarwady Delta and identified a range of new opportunities for collaboration between the CGIAR and Myanmar stakeholders to contribute to these challenges.

The successful outcomes arising from joint activities between the 3 CRPs under the CPWF framework in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh provides an excellent template for similar work in Myanmar. A related opportunity in Myanmar would be integrated polder management. The issue has numerous cross-cutting interests and would benefit considerably through contributions from each of the CRPs. Thus, “integrated polder management” is proposed as an overarching theme for the 3 CRPs in the Delta. Additional, key recommendations stemming from the scoping mission are:

In the short-term • Move towards a deeper collaboration with Myanmar through an integrated CRP approach, building on existing collaboration and existing projects, and initially focussing on the Ayeyarwady delta. • Undertake, with a wide range of stakeholders (including communities), participatory scenario building to better understand drivers and possible development trajectories of the Delta and to identify opportunities and challenges for the aquatic agricultural systems (as complex socio-ecological systems) that comprise it. • As an immediate priority, support the establishment of a Delta forum during 2014, to accelerate dialogue and sharing of knowledge and learning among government, NGOs and the CGIAR community. • Within the framework of the Delta Forum, establish a smaller (cross-sectoral) group of young Myanmar scientists, researchers and R&D partners for capacity building. • Utilise the young Myanmar scientists group to undertake diagnostics in selected regions of the Delta to understand community aspirations, and assess social, production and environmental issues, relevant to aquatic agricultural systems (rice, fish, livestock etc.) and to land and water management. The participatory diagnostics would provide one foundation for preparing a future collaborative program in the Delta. • In collaboration with national data collection programs undertake a coordinated mapping and data (spatial and temporal) sharing effort, initiated by the 3 CRPs, to provide a baseline of information, enrich knowledge integration and reduce duplication.

In the long term • Influence Delta and basin scale development in ways that seek to balance economic, socio- cultural and environmental impacts in an ethical framework that places foremost the rights of the people with whom R&D partnerships are developed. • Improve forecasts on climate patterns, river flows, tidal variation and undertake research to identify how communities can adapt to better manage the variability and future change. • At polder level, design interventions across salinity transects, identifying best management practices for production (integrated rice and fisheries) through efficient water management within a polder. • Evaluate opportunities to strengthen value chains and provide opportunities for the poorest and most vulnerable. • Conduct research on riparian habitats and how they are managed to promote ecosystem services and increasing resilience at a landscape scale.

Finally, it is recommended that a lead person is designated from each of the CRPs to drive forward the process of developing a coordinated strategy for collaborative, integrated work in the Delta.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

AAS Aquatic Agricultural Systems CGIAR Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research CPWF Challenge program for Water and Food CRP Consortium Research Program DoF Department of Fisheries DoFr Department of Forestry DoMH Department of Meteorology and Hydrology FSWG Food Security Working Group GO Government Organization GRiSP Global Rice Science Partnership IO International Organization IDO Intermediate Development Objective IRRI International Rice Research Institute IWMI International Water Management Institute LIFT Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund MAS Myanmar Agricultural Services MDG Millennium Development Goal MIMU Myanmar Information Management Unit MoAI Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation NEPS National Engineering and Planning Service NGO Non-Government Organization R&D Research and Development SEA Southeast Asia SLO System Level Outcome WLE Water, Land and Ecosystems

SECTION 1: Introduction

1.1 Background

Myanmar is primarily an agrarian economy. The total population of the country is approximately 60 million of whom 70% are engaged in agriculture, including fisheries. Myanmar is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Southeast Asia (SEA). Approximately 20% of the population is undernourished. Life expectancy is 57 years and child mortality rates are high at about 107 per 1,000 live births. Agriculture comprises 26% of the GDP and accounts for more than 60% of the total employment. The government, which is focused on improving agricultural production to reduce poverty, recognizes that agriculture is pro-poor and is investing heavily in irrigation and flood defence infrastructure 1 . Although an income-poor country, Myanmar is well endowed with abundant natural resources - including water - that can form the basis of a thriving agriculture sector.

Rice is the major crop, grown on approximately half the total cultivated area of 12.44 million ha of which 2.97 million ha (i.e. 24%) is officially irrigated (FAO–FAOSTAT 2013). Official statistics indicate that, since 1961 both the area under rice (ha) and the average productivity (tha-1) have increased significantly. As a result, total production has risen (Figure 1). However, the official government figures are controversial and considerable uncertainty remains over how much rice is actually produced. A recent study concluded that FAO/official data that indicate productivity levels of ca. 4 tha-1 were "implausibly high” and that in reality average country-wide rice yields declined from about 3 tha-1 in 2000 to about 2.7 tha-1 now (Dapice et al. 2010; Dapice et al., 2011).

Figure 1: Total rice production in Myanmar from 1961-2010(data source: FAOSTAT, 2013)

1 Between 1921 and 1941 Myanmar was a major exporter of rice and was known as Asia’s Rice bowl. Since 1988, the government has liberalized the agriculture sector by reducing the role of public procurement, loosening restrictions on the distribution of fertilizers and pesticides, permitting the export of agricultural produce (with the exception of rice) by the private sector and encouraging private sector investors. Currently the government has plans to increase rice production and aspires to again be a major global rice producer. Other important crops are maize, black gram, green gram, groundnut, onions and sugar cane. Myanmar is a major exporter of beans and pulses (FAO, 2011a)

Fish and fish products (i.e. small fresh fish, dried fish, fish paste and fermented fish) are second only to rice in the diets of Myanmar people and fisheries play an important role in income generation, particularly in the Ayeyarwady and Tanintharyi regions. It is estimated that fisheries (marine, inland and aquaculture) directly employs more than 3 million people and between 12 and 15 million people benefit from the fisheries sector. There is relatively little information available on the patterns of consumption, inter-regional differences, availability and types of fish consumed but total national fish production is estimated to be approximately 3.2 million tons with aquaculture being the fastest growing sector (FAO, 2009). Small livestock and poultry are also critical assets for the landless and poor since they do not require large land holdings but provide important protein as well as being assets that can be sold during lean times (Haggblade, 2013).

Following a general election in 2010, and the installation of a civilian government, sanctions against Myanmar have recently been suspended or lifted by many countries. Consequently, outside interest in the country has increased substantially. Development opportunities are extensive and aid agencies are seemingly keen to invest in the country. However, care is needed to ensure that future development is inclusive and sustainable.

Against this background, three centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), namely, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), WorldFish and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), are considering opportunities to expand the scope of their activities in the country.

The CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future with a vision to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership, and leadership. The CGIAR research programs (CRPs) are dedicated to achieving four high level goals called system-level outcomes (SLOs) that include: reducing rural poverty; increasing food security; improving human health and nutrition; and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. SLOs are the principal drivers for the CRPs in achieving the CGIAR strategic objectives and vision. A set of common Intermediate Development Outcomes (IDOs) have been developed to bridge CRP activities with the SLOs (Appendix F) and are well aligned with the development goals of Myanmar that aim to improve agriculture production and reduce poverty by increasing farmer incomes2.

The CRPs are implemented by 15 CGIAR Centers throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. It has been recognized for more than a decade that the ever more complex issues facing agricultural research for development require an innovative and collaborative approach to research. No single research institution working alone can address the complex and critically important issues of global climate change, agriculture, and food and nutrition security and rural poverty.

The initiative for an integrated CGIAR approach in Myanmar has strong support from the three centers as well as the respective CRPs that they lead: the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), led by IRRI, the Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) led by WorldFish, and Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) led by IWMI. In Myanmar, the aim is to build upon past experiences (e.g. from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and the Ganges Delta in Bangladesh (section 1.7; Appendix E)) and to strengthen and support current projects that the CGIAR Centers are already undertaking with government and local partners.

2 President U Thein Sein speech to the Union Ministers, Region/State Chief Ministers, and Deputy Ministers Nay Pyi Taw, 9 Aug, 2013

As an early initiative in this endeavour, staff from the three centres, representing the three CRPs (AAS, GRiSP and WLE), undertook a scoping mission to the Ayeyarwady Delta. The aim was to gain better understanding of the key development challenges that local people face and to identify potential options for future coherent, collaborative initiatives to address these challenges. This report provides a summary of the scoping mission and presents the key findings and outcomes, as well as suggestions for next steps.

1.2 Objectives of the scoping mission

The specific objectives of the scoping mission were to:

• gain a broad and shared understanding of the aquatic and agricultural development challenges and opportunities for poor men and women in the Ayeyarwady Delta and its supporting ecosystems including up-stream areas;

• articulate and better understand the main factors and drivers affecting the livelihoods and poverty of different social groups and production systems in the Delta and supporting ecosystems including up-stream influences;

• identify past and on-going research and development efforts that relate to the aquatic and agricultural development challenges and assess the extent to which an integrated CGIAR CRP research and development initiative (initially involving AAS, GRiSP and WLE) can, through convergence and complementarity create added value development impact, and foster ecological sustainable production;

• develop a shared understanding and outline concept for an integrated CGIAR CRP initiative in the Ayeyarwady Delta, covering key objectives, likely timeframe, important stakeholders, the likely geographical focus of activities and target groups, potential partners and stakeholder engagement, institutional development challenges and follow up actions.

1.3 Methodology

The scoping team consisted of a total of 22 participants, including both CGIAR scientists and staff of national organizations (Table 1). Prior to the mission team members were given the opportunity (via a drop-box) to familiarise themselves with background literature and data on Myanmar and the Delta, though some participants already had extensive experience with R&D initiatives in Myanmar.

Table 1: Participants and designation on the integrated CRP scoping CRP/Center CCIAR scientist Collaborating partners Gareth Johnstone 1. U Khin Maung Soe, National Advisor to MFish Project AAS / Michael Phillips 2. U Saw Aung Ye’ Htut Lwin, Assistant Director DoF WorldFish Ranjitha Puskur 3. U Min Naung , Dy. Regional Fisheries Officer DoF Kam Suan Pheng 4. U Sann Aung, Assistant Director DoF AD region. Tezzo Xavier 5. Dr. Nilar Shein (Aquaculture specialist MYFish / DoF) Grant Singleton 1. U Htun Aung Kyaw , Dy Regional Manager (DOA, AD) GRiSP / IRRI Madonna Casimero 2. Daw May Nwe Soe (IRRI) Elizabeth Humphreys Matty Demont Matthew McCartney 1. U Khin Latt (Engineering and Planning Services -NEPS) WLE / IWMI Chu Thai Hoanh 2. U Aye Myint (Engineering and Planning Services - NEPS) Sonali Senaratna Srabani Roy

The team visited the Delta for five days (3rd to 7th February, 2014). Scientists from each of the CGIAR Centers worked together in both thematic groups based on their specific area of expertise and also in cross-disciplinary groupings. The thematic groups were: i) markets, value chains & private sector; ii) productivity, natural resource management, ecosystem services; iii) institutions and governance; and iv) livelihoods, poverty and gender. An additional thematic grouping on information management systems and capacity building was also established and worked across all themes. Questions were developed by each thematic group and shared within the whole team.

During the pre-mission briefing on 2nd February the scoping mission objectives, outputs and itinerary were presented and discussed. The cross-disciplinary teams were also established to interview single stakeholder groups (i.e. government, producers, NGOs, traders). This approach enabled different thematic issues to be discussed during each focus group discussion.

At each site, the team split into 3-4 groups to facilitate focus group discussions with key stakeholders from the fishery, agriculture and irrigation sectors and representing government departments, NGOs, famers, fishers, NGOs and the private sector. Each group discussion was guided by a checklist of open-ended questions to allow free flow of discussions around key problems, identifying causes, opportunities and constraints, as well as future aspirations.

A short planning visit (dry-run) was conducted in January to organise stakeholders for the scoping mission meetings. This was led by in-country representatives from the CGIAR Centres and government partner organisations. A ‘dry-run’ report was produced (Appendix A) that provided basic information and characteristics of the sites visited. This provided extremely valuable background information and allowed the scoping teams to focus on key issues, thereby optimising their time in the interviews and focus group discussions (approximately 1.5 hours).

An itinerary of the scoping mission can be found in Appendix B. The mission was intended to highlight different aspects pertinent to different sectors (Table 2). De-briefing sessions were convened at the end of each day to review data and findings. Each thematic group presented a summary of their daily insights on the key development challenges and opportunities.

Table 2: Sector features highlighted during the scoping Water and irrigation systems Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture Rice and crops • Canals, water storage, • Lease hold, tender and open • Rice fish irrigation and salinity Fishery • Rice shrimp culture control infrastructure • Fish and prawn aquaculture/ cage • Rice-rice • Leasehold water aquaculture • Rice-pulses management systems for • Brackishwater shrimp farming • Discussions with traders, rice and fish cultivation • Hatcheries/Nurseries NGOs and DoA (regional, • Roles of Regional • Fish processing and distribution district, township) Government, DoF, DoA, • Traders/Collectors NGOs • Roles of regional DoF, MFF, NGOs • AAS dependent communities

A full day was set aside for a “debriefing” at end of the field work. The morning session was set aside for the team members to articulate a shared understanding of possible CGIAR research and development challenges and opportunities and also to prepare a presentation for the afternoon session. In the afternoon session the presentation was followed by discussion with donors, partners and government representatives. From this the team received valuable feedback and suggestions from the invited participants (Table 3), many of whom had many years of experience in the country.

Table 3: Invited participants who attended the integrated CRP debriefing session

Name Organization and responsibility Leslie Koo Program Manager, LEARN Project, Save the Children Claudia Antonelli Programme Officer, European Union, Food Security & Rural Development Andrew Kirkwood Fund Director, Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Steve Dowall Lead Technical Officer, Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Joern Kristensen Director & Representative, Institute for International Development Myo Thura / Programme Coordinator / Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

1.4 Geographic coverage and sites visited

The Ayeyarwady River Delta represents one of Asia’s mega deltas, with high natural productivity contributing substantially to the agricultural economy of the country. The Delta is a large area (35,136 km2) stretching from the southern end of the central plains of Rhakine State to the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The Delta consists of 6 districts and 26 townships and is made up of a complex of large rivers, including the Ayeyarwady River (sometimes known as the Irrawaddy) and multiple smaller stream, creaks and canals. The population of the Delta is over 8 million (suggesting a population density of 227 persons km-2) and the annual population growth of 1.87% (Statistical Yearbook 2006). The people of the Delta have long been dependent on fishing and farming for their livelihoods, while fish and rice are staples in their diet.

Poverty rates are high in rural areas of Myanmar, particularly among ethnic minorities, landless and functionally landless (<0.2 ha) households, which also experience food insecurity. The Ayeyarwady Region is one of the poorest in the country. In 2010, poverty and food poverty rates were 32.2% and 6.1% respectively and severe under-5 malnutrition was approximately 12.0% (UNDP, 2011).

The Delta can be divided into three broad ecological zones based on distance from the sea and reach of saline water intrusion: coastal saline (coastal front); riverine brackish (estuarine zone); and inland freshwater (floodplain zone) (Figure 2).

- a floodplain zone characterized by freshwater or a very low salinity maximum;

- an estuarine zone characterized by multiple waterways, temporary brackish water, degraded mangrove along waterways and a patchwork of rice fields, trees and villages;

- a coastal front characterized by very flat land, quasi-permanent brackish water, saline soils, degraded mangroves, with salt pans and rice fields where the natural vegetation has been cleared.

Livelihood conditions get progressively harsher towards the sea and also reflect the impact of Cyclone Nargis which, in May 2008, caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar. The cyclone caused at least 138,000 fatalities, mostly in the Delta.

The scoping team visited sites along the eastern flank of the Delta, traversing the floodplain and estuarine zones (Figure 3). The three main focal areas visited were: i) Maubin in the freshwater zone, ii) Pyapon, located between the floodplain and estuarine zone, and iii) Bogalay between the floodplain and estuarine zone (Table 4). Although the geographical focus of the scoping was the Ayeyarwady Delta, it was recognized that upstream and the broader landscape and socio-ecological

5 contexts were important considerations. This was strongly emphasized during the meeting with donors and partners on 07th February.

Figure 2: Ecological zones in the delta in relation to salinity

Figure 3: Geographic area of interest and places visited by the scoping mission. Group interviews convened at points indicated.

Table 4: characteristics of the main focal centers visited - Maubin, Pyapon and Bogalay Area Characteristics Maubin Floodplain zone, which is highly productive. Myitmaka River splits into a series of smaller tributaries and smaller river systems in Nyaungdon and Pantanaw as it enters and begins to shape the central delta landscape. The area has an abundant and ready supply of fresh water irrigation designed to support rice growing and also supplies water to large-scale aquaculture, leasable fisheries and tender lots in sites both within the watercourses and adjacent wetlands where there is abundant agriculture (rice) and fishery production. Pyapon Transition area between Floodplain and Estuarine zones. Area has extensive polder infrastructure to control and manage water for rice production. Tidal amplitude ranges from 2-5m. Natural creeks and canals function as leasable fishery sites. Pyapon also has direct river access to the sea, so fishing boats that ply the coastal waters land their marine catch in the town’s market. Terrain consists of a series of rivers and tributaries with extensive wetlands and aquatic agricultural systems; some ponds, ditches with high rice-fish field potential. Bogalay Transition area between Floodplain and Estuarine zones. Located on the Bogalay River with direct access to the sea, fishing in both inland and coastal waters, extensive rice farming areas with previous investment in infrastructure (WorldBank ‘Paddy 1 and 2’). Terrain consists of a series of rivers and tributaries with extensive wetlands and aquatic agricultural systems; growing evidence of integrated farming systems and some ponds and ditches used to support rice-field fisheries.

1.5 Key findings: opportunities and challenges

The CGIAR interventions in Myanmar with LIFT and ACIAR to date have identified a strong alignment between the aquatic and agricultural development challenges of the country, the CGIAR research capacity, the CGIAR intermediate development outcomes (IDOs) and the CRP research themes. These challenges include, amongst others, the need to improve income and nutrition of low income and nutritionally vulnerable people, the need to improve the productivity of aquatic and agricultural food systems and the need to enhance the resilience of agriculture and aquatic systems.

The scoping team was impressed by the favorable characteristics in the Delta that can be optimized for improving agriculture and fisheries productivity and applied to drive poverty reduction, and improve food and nutrition security. There is an abundance of natural resources (water, soil, land,) and large investments in existing infrastructure (polders). There is a high level of political will for rural development and poverty reduction with an extensive network of government staff and supporting partners (NGOs, private sector producers and traders) represented across the Delta that can provide valuable expertise into the sustainable development of the rice and fisheries sectors. Integration of social, economic and environmental issues provides the opportunity to obtain the “triple-bottom line” benefits of sustainability (i.e. social, economic and environmental) in the Ayeyarwady Delta (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Combined social, economic and environmental benefits

However, there are a number of existing and emerging issues that impede the capability of the rural sector to improve productivity, incomes, nutrition, food security, and environmental health. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Current high levels of poverty, food insecurity and under nutrition amongst smallholders and landless who have been locked into vicious cycles of deprivation; • Low and inefficient productivity of systems due to challenging and uncertain biophysical environment; weak management systems to optimize water and land use; climate change; environmental degradation; labor shortages; inadequate access to and availability of technologies, knowledge and information; • Unequal and inadequate access to productive resources and assets (land, water, boats, extension and market services, financial products) and limited co-ordination in markets/value chains; • High inequity and limited economic opportunities for smallholders and landless that is evident throughout the Delta and compounded by increasing privatization and conversion of land to paddy and ponds; • Limited integration across agriculture and aquaculture (farm and landscapes) that reduces the potential for diversification and optimizing the use of land and water; • Low incomes and limited economic opportunities, leading to migration (this is a wide held perception but it was questioned by some of the donor experts) • Weak policy and institutional environment that undermines the ability to tackle poverty and improve incomes and environmental services • Environmental degradation (i.e. mangrove loss and fisheries degradation as a consequence of agricultural chemical use), increasing variability and declining resilience that is increasingly evident towards the central and southern reaches of the Delta; • Conflicts between aquaculture and agriculture

Combining the knowledge resources that the three CRPs bring in a coherent way to address some of these complex issues is a priority and may function as a catalyst for developing the potential for integrated aquatic agriculture in the Delta and elsewhere in Myanmar.

1.6 Integrating the three CRPs

An important objective of the scoping mission was to determine how the three CGIAR centres (IRRI, World Fish and IWMI) could collaborate on joint research in the Ayeyerwady Delta, through the respective CRPs that they lead: GRiSP, AAS and WLE (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Key research themes in each of the CRPs.

The initiative to integrate the work of the three CRPs in Myanmar will build upon experiences and accomplishments throughout SEA, most specifically in the Mekong and Ganges Deltas. These past initiatives, in which all three centres collaborated, have taken water and its management as an important entry point and include projects managed under the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF), the USAID-funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), and DFID (Appendix E). In Myanmar, the aim is to harness these experiences and to strengthen and build upon the current projects that the Centers are undertaking with government and local partners in the country, in a more complementary manner.

1.7 Summary of experience from cross CGIAR center collaboration in the region

The idea of bringing the 3 CRPs together to address the complex problems of the Ayeyarwady Delta was at least partly inspired by the success of cross-centre CGIAR programs in the Ganges and Mekong Deltas over the past decade. Here, partnerships between IRRI, IWMI and WorldFish, together with many national organisations, have led to significant progress in research for development for potentially millions of poor farming families living in the polders of the coastal zones.

Many of the agriculture and aquaculture challenges in the coastal zones of Bangladesh and Vietnam appear similar to those faced in the lower Ayeyarwady Delta, such as too much or too little water, tidal flooding, soil salinization, severe cyclonic events, low productivity, lack of fresh water and high poverty and landlessness. However, there are also many differences, for example, in terms of social and cultural norms, institutions and policies, climate, and population density.

The previous work conducted in the deltas of the Mekong and Ganges (Appendix E) have worked at a range of scales – the total landscape, individual polders, farmers’ fields, homesteads and community water management organisations. Some of the identified keys to success in these programs include:

• Co-learning approaches that worked directly with farmers (including through the participatory field testing of technologies) and extension workers. • Focused research on issues of key importance for poor people in the deltas and sought to generate benefits through the integration of environmental and socio-economic knowledge. • In each case individual projects, within the overall program, were designed to be complementary and many project activities were undertaken jointly with both formal and informal cross-project interactions. • Later phases of work built on that of earlier phases and, where appropriate, utilised the strong partnerships that had been previously developed; • Non-traditional partnership, both within and outside government, enabled information and knowledge to be disseminated widely so that those for whom it was most relevant got to know.

All three CGIAR institutions have experience working in Myanmar. This includes work funded by ACIAR and LIFT in the Delta as well as the Central Dry Zone (Appendix E).

SECTION 2: Perspectives from the scoping mission

2.1 Markets, value chains and private sector

2.1.1 Key characteristics and observations Myanmar’s main economic sector is agriculture in which rice is the most important commodity to supply its growing population and to earn national income through export. Improving agricultural productivity and promoting exports are top priorities for the Government of Myanmar, which has set ambitious targets of exporting 2 million tons of rice by 2014/15 and 4 million tons by 2019/20. Actual performance has lagged behind these targets, but the opening of Myanmar’s economy and recent policy measures liberalizing export have started to produce first results.

During the scoping mission, market and value chains analysis covered mostly rice and fish but also other agricultural production. The team had the opportunity to interview various stakeholders: from producers (rice farmers, fish farmers, fishermen) to processors, retailers, Government staff and men and women from rural households in rural communities.

The observations and recommendations with regards to market and value chains from the Ayeyarwady Delta were studied with the aim of adopting a holistic approach for rice, fisheries and other agricultural products and characterizing the main features of their markets and value chains. Through this process, common limiting constraints were identified. It is important to highlight that while similarities can be found between the rice and fisheries value chains, they habitually involve different stakeholders: despite their often common economic, social and environmental context, only few rice farmers met during the scoping mission were also involved in the fisheries and vice- versa. Therefore when appropriate, analyses of value chains were conducted separately.

During the scoping mission it was observed that market chains in the Ayeyarwady Delta are generally well established and that the chains operate based on trust and long-term relationships. Entry of operators/wage labours into the chain is often determined by their social networks.

Rice – Land distribution in the Delta is highly skewed, with many people landless (section 3.2.1). Rice farmers in the Ayeyarwady Delta tend to be medium size. The variety Sentuka is typically planted in the summer season and Paw San in the rainy season. It is common for farmers to store paddy in order to speculate on higher prices. Farmers normally organize the transport of the paddy to the millers with very limited custom milling activities taking place. Millers tend to be traders and they usually supply the Yangon market. Rice value chains in the Ayeyarwady Delta are still largely characterized by informal trade and arms-length transactions. Notable exceptions are Rice Specialization Companies (RSCs, Box 1). Introduced in 2008, the RSCs have been seen as a vehicle to expand production by encouraging the private sector to invest in providing needed inputs and knowhow to the country's rice farmers, who were/are not being well serviced by the extension service. The participation of private firms in this endeavour was encouraged by loans from the government, access to rice export licenses, and the general linkage between granting import licenses for other products to those firms that had export records.

Fish – Fish production in the Ayeyarwady Delta encompasses leasable fisheries in the inland water bodies, coastal inshore fisheries practiced by small-scale fishers with manually propelled canoes, coastal offshore fisheries dominated by large scale vessels with high capture capacity and finally aquaculture producers. The latter can be categorized into small-scale, which are poorly established and for which little information is available, and medium to large scale which dominate the sector: finfish (mainly rohu) are cultivated in large scale extensive ponds. The Ayeyarwady Delta is one of the major hubs for fisheries and aquaculture production in Myanmar and despite the declining fish

11 catch largely reported from the capture sector, the Ayeyarwady Delta still produces a fish surplus for the region. There are distinctly clear market niches for fisheries and aquaculture products. Small low-value fish are often sold locally (local, regional and Yangon market) where they are either used for consumption, drying, fermenting (“nga-pi”), or sold to livestock and fish feed industries as trash fish. Large sized fish are habitually sold in Yangon market and upper-country or exported to neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh. Major bulk of eel, mud crabs and shrimps are exported as high-value fisheries products to countries such as China, Thailand and Japan. Marine fish products do represent the biggest share of the Ayeyarwady Delta fish production, however there is a clear local market preference for inland fish products. The preference is to market fresh fish rather than processed fish and processing activities are mainly operated by small to medium-scale operators without transport facilities. The fish market prices are determined by the (domestic and export) traders in Yangon and the rest of the operators along the chain are price takers. Recent important reduction in the price of mobile phones (still ongoing) is making communication with traders at the terminal markets (Yangon) easier. A large number of women are involved in downstream activities: Women have traditionally played the role of collectors at both medium and large scales. They are also usually in charge of the processing activities.

Box 1: Golden Lace Co. Ltd in Bogale - Establishes outgrower schemes (contract farming) with 70 farmers in 2 villages during monsoon - Focusing on a few varieties, e.g. Sentuka variety (slender, long grain), exported to Japan - Advantage: RSC has better governance over variety and can better tailor market segments - Invest in parboiling for Russian, Ukraine market - Most RSCs have own mill (vertically integrated) - RSCs sell to export and domestic markets (own brand) - Rice is still dried at farm level - Rice is sold immediately - Minimum price in contract; if market price is higher they pay the market price - 2% interest rate/month - Replace trust by contract - No subsidies by government - Want to expand and integrate with export, but major constraint is financing - 10 rice millers in company, 1 miller = 50 t/day; millers also have own production aside - Millers are directors in board - In 2009 many such projects have started

Contract conditions: - Minimum guaranteed price - Set of quality standards - Pre-financing of inputs: seeds, fertilizers, technology (rice production, GAP, post-harvest), private extension (training) - Horizontal coordination: contracts only groups of farmers, usually villages - One variety per group - Contract lists individual farmers - No minimum size required

2.1.2 Challenges & Opportunities Table 5 presents a brief summary of the common challenges and opportunities identified by the value chain team during the scoping mission for rice and fisheries value chains. Table 6, presents the challenges and opportunities, specific to each sector.

Table 5: Key challenges and opportunities identified by the thematic group on markets, value chains and private sector for both rice and fisheries value chains. Common Challenges Common Opportunities Market • Small-scale operators are not maximizing the value • Scope for developing joint-marketing initiatives of their production because of limited marketing (e.g. cooperatives, inventory loans strategies/market information arrangements, etc.) to allow small-scale • Limited horizontal coordination between producers operators to reach better markets and reduce (no joint-marketing strategies) resulting in high operational cost (collective transport/purchase transaction costs of inputs) • Limited vertical organization between producers • To identify/document good examples of benefit- (spot market) sharing models and promote fair approaches to • No/Poor incentive for quality upgrading policy makers Value chain • Limited access to financial services with most of the • Scope for building on traditional VC including small stakeholders obtaining credits from traders at smallholders (e.g. Contract farming – see Box 1) inflated interest rates • Possible improvement of extension services • Poorly developed extension services through the involvement of the private sector • Low medium profitability caused by low- (e.g. Rice Specialization Companies, private performing varieties/production techniques hatcheries) • General poor understanding of how value chains • Room for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and markets are operating in the AD upgrading – quality improvement to act as an • Poor horizontal and vertical coordination and poor incentive coming from mid-stream integration of rice and fish value chains • Contract farming is on the rise, driven by Rice Specialization Companies (RSCs, see example of Golden Lace Co. Ltd in Box 1). This can become a leverage point for medium-large scale farmers (specialization). RSCs improve vertical coordination between farmers and the downstream sector. This model can be encouraged and reproduced further, but need to ensure that it is pro-poor. • Rice-fish integration can be encouraged as a strategy of diversification and risk reduction for small-scale farmers. Rice and fish share common constraints, common solutions and similar value chains. Economic, social and environmental sustainability can be optimized in these systems and sustainability premiums may be captured in international markets

Table 6: Key challenges and opportunities identified by the thematic group on markets, value chains and private sector for rice and fisheries value chains separately Other Challenges (Fisheries) Other Opportunities (Fisheries)

• Scope for the development of homestead- • Capture fisheries reported to provide low level of based fish processing activities engaging small- employment: the latter is seasonal in nature and scale stakeholders in value adding enterprises wages paid to workers have recently fallen given based on an assessment of the market the decline in the fish catches. demands (local, regional and export) • Medium to large scale aquaculture farms reported • Opportunity to develop better feed high cost of feed, high cost of labour and erratic formulations using locally available products to electric supply as limiting factors make the small-scale aquaculture more • Aquaculture producers reported that local market competitive and develop small-scale inputs for fresh fish is often saturated during the fishing supply systems at farm level season (capture sector) with offer exceeding local • Reported demanding freshwater fish markets demand in other parts of the country (e.g. Central Dry Zone) to be explored Other Challenges (Rice) Other Opportunities (Rice)

Challenges Opportunities Low post-harvest quality (high broken rice rate) due to • Improved post-harvest technologies (bubble sun drying and lack of drying equipment and driers) are currently being introduced by IRRI postharvest technology and there is tremendous scope for rapid scaling-up of these technologies in the Ayeyarwady Delta Limited incentives for quality upgrading (no price • Policy development that supports an enabling differences between low and high quality paddy and environment for private sector investment in varieties are mixed at milling stage) upgrading of processing infrastructure. • Improving horizontal coordination and collective action among farmers concentrating on a single variety • Improving vertical coordination between millers and farmers, following the model of the RSCs Limited access to internal/external financial services; • Exploring options for external financing of rice need to explore options for financing. Sometimes and fish value chains output-tied credit is obtained from traders at 10% • Improving internal financing of rice and fish monthly interest rate. value chains through better horizontal and vertical coordination • MerciCorps is developing inventory credit systems which solve storage/credit problems. These systems can be further reproduced/encouraged Myanmar has a limited reputation in international • Fragrant Paw San rice variety is highly markets demanded, fetching price premiums of 30– 50%. This variety could become a premium export product like Basmati and Jasmine, which may establish Myanmar’s reputation in international markets • Sustainability of Myanmar’s rice-fish agriculture could be a selling point for improving Myanmar’s reputation in international markets

2.1.3 Knowledge gaps and associated research questions The high poverty levels and low levels of household food security in the Delta argue for an inclusive approach to sustainable food value chain development. The RSC models provide an interesting case for improving horizontal and vertical coordination, but remains to be seen whether they are inclusive or pro-poor. There is a need to better understand the functioning, efficiency and performance of rice and fish products value chains in the Delta in order to better identify opportunities for upgrading the chains and improve their performances with benefits being distributed equitably along the chains, benefiting small stakeholders and women. In order to do so there are a number of knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. These are posited below as research questions:

• What are the benefits/disadvantages of prevailing market organization to small-scale stakeholders, and what is the potential for more horizontal/vertical organization to increase the benefit to the poor and women in the sector? • What are the socio-economic costs and benefits of existing processing activities in the Delta, and is there any benefit-sharing model that can be replicated elsewhere? • Is there any prospect for the development of small-scale value-added activities that would better contribute to poverty alleviation and food security? • Consumer response to quality upgrading. Are domestic consumers willing to pay for quality? • Impact of the RSCs. Are they pro-poor and how do their sustainability metrics perform, compared to other (traditional) value chain models? • What is the role for value chain improvement in the lives of the landless and boatless? • Can RSC models be reproduced in fish value chains? Why (not)? • How can rice and fish value chains be better integrated? • Strategic positioning of Myanmar in international rice markets. Should Myanmar pursue a strategy of cost-competitiveness (such as Vietnam in the eighties) or should they compete in the quality market? Can Paw San compete in the quality market?

2.2 Productivity, NRM and ecosystem services and resilience

2.2.1 Key characteristics and observations

The Delta is rich in water resources and fertile soils and is highly productive both in terms of cultivated crops, aquaculture and fisheries. However, the environment is challenging with considerable temporal and spatial variability in rainfall, water availability and salinity. There is insufficient capacity (physical, financial and human) to manage the high levels of variability that lie behind much of the prevailing poverty and food insecurity. For example, in some locations households can only grow one summer rice crop a year because the rest of the time the land is either too deeply flooded or too dry. In other locations where the inundation depth is less, farmers can only grow one rainy season rice crop due to lack of fresh water throughout the rest of the year. In the past there has been significant investment in infrastructure, particularly polders, to protect land from inundation and enable better water control. However, many embankments and sluice gates were damaged during Cyclone Nargis and there is a general lack of maintenance largely as a consequence of limited funds. Problems arise due to sedimentation in the channels (caused by insufficient frequency of dredging – it can be decades between dredging activities), buildup of water weeds (especially hyacinth), flooding within polders as a result of rainfall, together with the uneven micro-topography and sluices not functioning properly.

The decision to invest in an extensive irrigation system for rice with polders and sluice gates has resulted in a long history of conflicts between rice and fish growers over water. There is indication that the current system cannot manage and drain water if the rainfall is greater than 1.5 inches (38

15 mm) per day suggesting that the design may be prone to changes in climate. In Bogale formal knowledge and information is limited for farmers and the uneven topography makes water management difficult. For fisheries, when the sluice gates are closed in the summer months to hold water for irrigation this coincides with the breeding cycle of many fish species that need to use the creeks to spawn. There is some evidence of cooperative management arrangement to allow fish to move over the paddy during the summer in Pyapon but sluice gate management remains a conflict issue, resulting in deliberate damage to dams to allow the drainage and movement of water. In many instances the application of poisons to manage invasive species such as crabs in the lower reaches of the Delta that are damaging to rice also impacts on fish within a polder and chemical use often coincides with the spawning season of fish. Storage of water in November is also important for rice but at this time the fishers wish to drain the creeks to assist the fish harvest.

The issue of land privatisation, landlessness, migration and migrant labour is currently unclear but appears to be interlinked. The conversion of wetlands to paddy appears to be happening on unclaimed or common land. Large landowners are also citing issues of encroachment by the landless onto land, particularly on old fish leaseholds that have become useable due to changes in water management.

Exposure to natural disasters, such as cyclones and flooding regularly lead to transitory food insecurity either directly by damaging shelter and agricultural land of affected households or by limiting physical access to livelihood activities. It is anticipated that climate change and sea level rise will exacerbate these challenges by modifying rainfall patterns, altering river flows and further increasing variability.

Currently, there is a lack of integration among fishery and agriculture systems, which are often perceived to be conflicting rather than potentially complementary (section 3.1.1 and 3.3.1). Productivity levels could be significantly improved with better integrated management of water and land resources. Population density is relatively low and some farmers have very large land holdings (ca. > 200 acres). However, land distribution is highly skewed. Only 12% of farmers have landholding >10 acres and 72% are landless/functionally landless. This is the highest proportion of landlessness in the country (LIFT, 2012). This inequity maybe exacerbated by the expansion of agribusiness and associated “land grabbing” by both domestic and foreign enterprises. It is estimated that at least 225,000 acres in the Delta are currently under company ownership.

In recent years, degradation of ecosystems has become a major concern. Destruction of mangroves (cut for wood), indiscriminate conversion of wetlands to paddy, and declining water quality due to indiscriminate use of agrochemicals and destructive fishing practices, are all undermining the ecological base of the Delta, threatening ecosystem services and the immediate and long-term sustainability of many livelihood practices. For example, there are reported harvest declines in both inland and coastal fisheries.

Lack of data and information undermines the ability to fully understand the current situation and to determine what can be done and where. Links between extension services and farmers are restricted by funding constraints. Furthermore, the predisposition, rooted in two generations of command and control management, to instruct rather than listen to farmers and the primary focus on production targets (particularly for rice) further reduces the impact of the extension services on improving farm incomes and poverty alleviation (Haggblade et al. 2013).

2.2.2 Challenges & Opportunities

Table 7 presents a brief summary of the key challenges and opportunities identified by the productivity team during the scoping mission.

Table 7: Key challenges and opportunities identified by the thematic group on Productivity, natural resource management, ecosystem services Challenges Opportunities Challenging environment – seasonal • Integration across agriculture and aquaculture in relation variability (salinity, waterlogging), climatic to both land and water management (at farming system events (floods, drought), saline soils and landscape scales) • Potential for improved farm and landscape productivity through improved water management systems – better use of existing infrastructure and management; better maintenance of existing infrastructure; infrastructure improvements • Improved rice varieties with greater stress tolerance (especially salinity and submergence tolerance) and shorter duration/earlier maturity • Reducing post-harvest losses Environmental degradation • Better environmental management to halt and reverse environmental degradation (increase resilience) in inland and coastal areas. • Opportunities for diversification – rice-fish and cash crops • Chemical inputs in cropping systems are still relatively low; lessons can be learned from of misuse of pesticides and fertilizers elsewhere in SEA to avoid making similar mistakes. Landless • Improving homestead farming systems for the landless for livelihoods and nutrition • Better alignment of agricultural investments with nutrition Policy • Policy development that supports a more integrated approach and more productive use of land and water resources • Innovation approaches that give the landless poor access to productive assets (leases and co-management etc) to diversify their livelihoods • Improve access of NGOs community to knowledge

2.2.3 Knowledge gaps and associated research questions

Prevailing high levels of poverty and house-hold food insecurity as well as the significant environmental pressures in the Delta suggest that current economic growth is neither sufficiently inclusive nor sustainable. To a large extent the future of the Delta depends on how its natural resources are managed and the extent to which local people benefit from resource exploitation. There is an urgent need to transform the agricultural and fisheries sectors to simultaneously reduce poverty, improve household food security and reduce environmental degradation. This requires much greater understanding of the specific constraints that the poorer and vulnerable segments of local populations experience. Specific research questions that need to be addressed include:

• How does variability in rainfall and water availability and access affect livelihood strategies of different household types and individuals within the household? How are coping mechanisms likely to be affected by climate change? • How does salinity vary (temporally and spatially) in the delta? How is this changing and what are the possible impacts of upstream development? • How are livelihood opportunities and strategies modified by gradients in salinity/freshwater in the delta? • How is water/salinity/sediment managed in the delta (i.e. in and outside polders) and what are the governance structures around this? How can this be changed to diversify production systems, improve productivity and better contribute to the livelihoods and wellbeing of poor and vulnerable people?

2.3 Institutions and governance

2.3.1 Key characteristics and observations

The scoping to the delta provided an opportunity to meet with different stakeholders including: government (Department of Fisheries (DoF) of the Ministry of Fisheries, Livestock and Rural Development; Department of Agriculture (DoA) of the Ministry of Agriculture and irrigation); small and large-scale farmers (rice and fish); and fish leaseholders; private sector traders, processors; and men and women from households in rural communities.

The issues generated through observations and discussions with stakeholders with regards to governance and institutions can be sub-divided into three areas:

• Policy environment - influencing agriculture, fisheries and water use and access • Integrated management – challenges in developing integrated fisheries and agricultural approaches • Institution and capacity building – challenges to increasing productivity and water management

Policy environment The policy environment is complex, centralised and in transition. The Myanmar Government is implementing a series of reforms to develop the political environment inside the country, improve international relations through global market access, and to continue dialogue for national reconciliation. Reform of the rural sector is targeted towards poverty reduction by increasing production and incomes of producers and rural households. However, the reforms are set within a governance context that continues to centralise targets to measure production from each sector (i.e. rice, fish, livestock, legumes etc.) that also aims to maintain (and increase) government revenues, which can be detrimental to poverty reduction strategies

The policy environment for water is set across a number of government departments. These include the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation Department (MOAI); Water Resources Utilization Department that manages rural water supply; Department of Rural Development (Ministry of Border Affairs) which manages rural water resources; the Department of Human Settlement (Ministry of Construction) responsible for domestic water supply; and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) responsible for inland navigation. In July 2013, a National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) was established. The Committee is chaired by the Vice President and has a small secretariat within MOT. Twenty-three government agencies are represented on the NWRC, which is tasked with integrating the work of the various government departments dealing with water. However, its effectiveness is

18 yet to be determined and currently there is no doubt that the plethora of institutions and agencies creates complexity and weakens the capacity for better coordinated management of water.

The policy environment to support the diversification of land use and to facilitate the integration aquatic agriculture (rice, fish, livestock etc) farming is weak particularly for demarcating water use between fish and rice uses and users. Government policy places a high priority on rice and water access over fish and a clear hierarchy exists between the laws with fishery laws subordinate to agriculture legislation. In recent years with the reforms, enforcement of the law has become less strict and there is evidence of pond construction in areas designated for paddy as observed in the polders between Pyapon and Bogalay. In some cases, paddy land is regularly flooded to depths too deep for cultivation of rice during the rainy season, and conversion to other uses becomes a necessity for the land owner for livelihood diversification. The proportion of concerned land and farms that are regularly deeply flooded is an unknown although sites observed around the edges of the polders indicate that this could be significant. However, to make the conversion from agriculture ‘paddy’ land to fish pond requires the permission of 16 relevant agencies3.

Administrative reform to the 2008 Constitution that decentralised and de-concentrated responsibility to Regional and State Governments4 over the rural sector appears to have played an important role in providing opportunities for better delivery of services to small-holders and to contribute to poverty alleviation. Regional Governments can now make their own laws for a number of commodities including fisheries and rice production. However, the productivity sectors continue use centralized targets that are linked to the revenue raised by a government department and what fees they can be charged for a leasehold in the case of fisheries. The tensions between regional policies and centralized targets raises a number of challenges to poverty alleviation as it can compromise data quality, create conditions for misreporting, it favors big business over small-scale producers and farmers; and it can incentivize corruption as government officers seek to meet targets and rent-seek to supplement incomes. There was sufficient evidence observed during the scoping mission and through previous research, that the role of government is more focussed towards revenue raising and less about providing technical skills and capacity building to farmers and producers.

The challenge for government officials at district and township levels is how to apply poverty alleviation policies that have been articulated through a series of speeches by President Thein Sein whilst trying to meet revenue and productivity targets. In the first meeting in 2011 the “rural development and poverty alleviation central committee” urged government departments to set-up ‘cluster groups’ for different rural producer groups (fish farmers, rice farmers, leaseholders, etc.). These cooperative groups would receive loans through Regional Government to invest in the production system. However, a constraint to ‘cluster’ group formation is its implementation with limited understanding of the group’s mandate by government officials. More recently the Ministry of Cooperatives has been more active in distributing loans and forming groups. In Pyapon the Department of Cooperatives have set up 69 cooperatives at village level. For rice producers small loans are provided for 6 months of 50, 000 kyat per acre for maximum of 2 acres. Interest is 1.5% per month. For livestock, a loan for one pig is 50,000 Kyat with 10 months payback period with same interest per month. However, there is no provision for credit for fishers as small business people based on limited or no collateral to guarantee the loan. As a consequence of this credit for the fisheries sector is provided by private lenders (usually fish collectors) at exorbitant interest rates and compulsion of borrowers to sell their fish at prices set by the lenders.

3 Discussion with deputy regional fishery officer, U Min Naung (05.0214) 4 The constitution divides the country into seven States and Regions and this is further subdivided into districts, townships, wards, and villages. The constitution allows the Regions/States to develop legislation over a number of commodities including agriculture and freshwater fisheries, whilst marine fisheries remain within the domain of the national legislature.

Integrated management There is a desire by national government to promote integrated farming systems as a mechanism to improve production, increase food security and reduce poverty (President Thein Sein, 2013). Despite a mix of livelihood activities at the farm level there remain capacity constraints in support of integrated framing systems. Informants acknowledged that strict enforcement of land use policy for paddy is now more relaxed with some farmers investing in fish ponds on land designated for paddy. This is driven mainly by the high value and demand for fresh fish. Respondents recalled that during the 1990’s the Government allowed demonstrations of rice-fish farming. However, despite support from the farmers, the policy conditions remained the same and continued to favour rice production and the demonstrations remained as demonstrations. According to the participants the program also was not successful as it suffered from weak technical and technology inputs. Soon thereafter summer paddy was introduced in 1993 that has resulted in a series of conflicts with fish producers over water use, access and management.

There has been no policy guidance to manage conflicts between farmers and fishers over water use and they appear to be addressed on a case by case basis. Differences between the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and the Department of Agriculture (DoA) are also evident in discussions about conversion of land to fish ponds. The DoF at regional level supports the idea to encourage smallholder farmers to construct ponds. In contrast, DoA is concerned that rice farmers will sell land and become landless citing the high demand for fish that is encouraging farmers to convert paddy into ponds and opportunities to sell land to large operators, leaving small farmers landless. These tensions between rice and fish governing agencies are occurring within the decentralised and de- concentrated framework for Regional and State Governments where there is a demand to generate revenue. An issue raised was that smallholder farmers and fishers do not generate income for regional government and smallholders do not pay tax on their small level of production, so large land owners and pond operators are preferred. There is some evidence to support this corollary with large operators interviewed claiming that they continue to purchase land and convert to paddy and ponds. Some of this work is leased to private contractors that covert wetland into paddy. During the conversion process a semi-permanent fishing ground is created that is also leased to local fishers, thus raising questions over rent seeking behaviour by leaseholders and equity over use and access rights to fish resources.

Institutional and capacity building Through all discussions during the scoping mission the need for technical solutions to solve productivity issues was the primary response to questions about main challenges facing agriculture development. The need for high yielding rice varieties or fast growing fish species was highlighted consistently by government staff, farmers and fishers alike and indicated deeper-rooted issues that emerged subsequently about poor investments of infrastructure (i.e. polders, irrigation canals), weak management of water and poor extension services. Technological solutions may be a possible avenue to make efficiency gains with existing varieties and under the prevailing conditions. This is an area that needs further discussion but could benefit from high quality varieties of rice and integration of farming systems to improve productivity and resilience through diversification. This may also provide a mechanism to help address environmental uncertainty and answer questions about how the current polder system can be managed to cope with changing patterns of rainfall.

The capacity to improve productivity appears to be constrained by a number of issues including the need for capital, better water management, labour shortage, environmental degradation and use of pesticides and chemicals by rice farmers that have important spill-over impact on fisheries. The capacity within government to contribute effectively to extension services and poverty alleviation is weak with the main activity centred on revenue raising and reaching production targets. Policies to

20 introduce cooperative groups to address productivity collectively cannot be fully realised without more exposure of government and supporting institutions to diagnostic methods to assess, develop and test poverty alleviation activities and initiatives. The institutional framework within government as a result of the constitutional changes and the decentralisation legislation has created a number of important mechanisms and processes that could be co-opted to address some of these concerns. These will need further investigation and analysis but at the township level Regional Government is supporting integrated committees where nine departments meet every week5. Such groupings can act as repository for information and provide a process to resolve disputes alongside the village heads. They can review land and water use – especially how water is managed by multiple users and reviews how polder design (30 years on) can be better managed to handle increases in rainfall. Farmers would like better information on climate forecasts and better objective information on conflicts on water use in the dry season. Working alongside and strengthening the existing institutions within the villages and at Township and Districts levels should provide a mechanism for developing capacity in research and the testing and assessment of innovations and interventions.

2.3.2 Challenges & Opportunities

Table 8 presents a brief summary of the key challenges and opportunities identified by the team during the scoping mission.

Table 8: Key challenges and opportunities identified by the thematic group on Institutions and governance Challenges Opportunities Policy Environment Agriculture and fishery policies – sectoral, • Policy gap analysis to support integrated agriculture little integration within and between, revenue particularly conflicting policies on fisheries & agriculture and targets • Create an enabling environment for policy development and implementation that supports a more integrated approach and more productive use of land and water resources for agriculture and fisheries Poverty alleviation • Policy analysis to understand impact of privatization of land and conversion of land to paddy and pond • Assess and test interventions to operationalise government policy on poverty alleviation? Integrated management Land use and water management • Identify mechanisms for better coordination for long- term integrated planning amongst the different agencies (Delta forum) • Explore opportunities to increase water storage and reduce freshwater surge Landless and migration • Review of land use and ownership policies • Policy analysis to understand implications for landless, migration, poverty and labour issues Institutional and capacity building Technology/ techniques to overcome • Look at regional examples and exchanges for learning environmental concerns (study tours) Capacity and resources to manage water • Integrate extension services to improve management of resources for sustainability. • Consider formation of water users’ groups, learning lessons and adapting successful models from other countries.

5 Dept of Irrigation, Dept of Water Resources, Dept of Fisheries, Dept of Mechanization, Township Management, Forestry, Agricultural Dept, Dept of Cooperatives, Dept of Land Use

2.3.3 Knowledge gaps and associated research questions

There are a number of areas that need further research and investigation before any intervention could be developed. Despite the policy and legal framework not currently favoring the integration of rice and fish, the solution for many of the prevailing issues is to integrate these two sectors alongside livestock and other crops. To address this adequately there are a number of knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. These are posited below as research questions:

• How can we do better integrated agriculture? o Policy gap analysis to support integrated agriculture – conflicting policies o Policy and regulation demarking water use for agriculture and fisheries • How to address labour and land? o What is the impact of privatization of land and conversion of land to paddy and ponds o What are the implications for agriculture of landless, migration and labour issues o How does centralised target setting influence poverty alleviation? • How can collaborative structures best contribute to poverty alleviation objectives”?? o How can cooperative strategies to develop cluster groups be optimise to support poverty alleviation o What is the effectiveness of credit and loans in cooperative (cluster) groups? • How to increase water productivity in the dry period/season to benefit rice & fish? o What institutional and governance arrangements could be appropriately put in place to improve the efficiency of conveyance, allocation and storage of water for multiple uses in agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries? • How to take advantage of salinity fluctuations to diversify livelihood activities in the various zones of the delta? o What kinds of policies, regulations and governance arrangements are appropriate for establishing and managing water control infrastructure that would allow non- conflicting use of saline, brackish-water and freshwater resources to support diversified livelihood activities? • How to develop integrated extension services opportunities to improve management of resources for sustainability? o Integrated NRM management of creeks and riparian habitats ,longer leases, siltation, water quality; looking specifically at regional examples and exchanges for improving and learning (study tours)

2.4 Livelihoods, poverty and gender

2.4.1 Key characteristics and observations

Poverty levels in the Ayeyarwady Delta are very high and there are large inequalities in access to resources and assets. According to the LIFT baseline survey of 2012, within their sample of 800 households In the Ayeyarwady Delta/coast region 72% did not own land while 4.9% own land more than 20 acres. While another study indicated that the range of farm size in some polders has been estimated to be a maximum holding area of 200 acres and minimum area of 1.7 acres – hence illustrating that there is great disparity in the ownership of land amongst the Delta population (Driel and Nauta, 2013; LIFT, 2012). Land is considered the most important livelihood asset for households in rural Myanmar, where ownership of sufficient land can ensure income and food security (LIFT, 2012). Average household income of the land right holders is more than double than that of a landless household (Driel and Nauta, 2013). For example, the average household monthly income in the Ayeyarwady Delta township of Laputta is around US $80/month, but for around 40% of the

22 population who work as casual labourers, the average monthly income is only around US $44/month (MercyCorps, 2011).

According to a nation‐wide Integrated Household Living Condition Survey conducted in Myanmar in 2007, an average household in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions spends approximately 72 and 66 percent respectively of their total expenditure on food (WFP, 2008). Among the poor, however, particularly those residing in rural areas, the proportion of expenditure utilised for food is typically higher. For example, in the Ayeyarwady Division, approximately 74 percent of expenditure by poor households is used for food (WFP, 2008). At the same time, there are high levels of malnutrition in the delta. There are inequities in food access, with low availability of food in some parts of the delta and for some groups particularly (World Bank, 2010).

The population in the Delta area are primarily farmers, fishermen and laborers, with a smaller proportion engaged in service industries and as traders. Approximately 50-60 percent of the households in the Delta are engaged in agricultural activities. Facilitated by the availability of water and relatively fertile soils, over time, there has been an intensification of agriculture in the Delta region, (PONJA, 2008).

A majority of poor households depend solely on wage labour as their primary source of income, while those in possession of some land typically own only marginal holdings. A sizeable number may also end up leasing plots for cultivation from more affluent farmers (WFP, 2008). Overall in the Delta, 32 percent of the landless work in agriculture as renters/ sharecroppers, agricultural workers, or seasonal agricultural workers, a figure above the 26 percent national average. The other two- thirds worked in other sectors including fisheries, salt production, trade, and transportation. The percentage of landlessness was particularly high in Labutta where there are a high proportion of people engaged in fishing (PONJA, 2008).

The poorest households, which form approximately 60-65% of the households in rural communities, are characterised by severe lack of assets:

• physical capital in the form of land and boats/nets (often landless or own very little land and do not own boats/nets); • financial capital in the form of income (usually engaged in low income earning activities) and savings (inability to save and due to low income levels); • natural capital due to limited access to resources through leases and tenders; • social capital due to limited networks owing to limited mobility and communication and; • human capital due to limited ability to afford education, low knowledge and skills to generate income and poor health (due to food insecurity and lack of access to safe drinking water).

The livelihood options available to these households are few and they have limited opportunities for diversifying their livelihood activities and increasing their income. As indicated above, their main source of income is wage labour in enterprises owned and operated by the better-off households, either in fisheries (inland or coastal) or agricultural paddy lands. This is seasonal employment and engages men, women and children. The wage rates differ amongst men and women based on the nature of the work they are engaged in. There is also a high level of migration due to lack of economic opportunity, with both young men and women migrating to larger towns or cities to obtain work. Men may also travel to neighboring countries6. In contrast to this, we observed that for the better off farmers (leaseholders), fishing was a major source of their incomes, but not the sole

6 As part of the anti-trafficking program in 1997 a travel restriction was put in place which prohibits women under 25 from traveling in border regions or crossing the national border without a guardian curtailing their mobility.

23 source. They also have paddy farm land and may be engaged in several off-farm activities too. This demonstrates the diversity of the livelihoods portfolio of these better off households and also their risk mitigation strategy.

Based on asset ownership, access to resources and other criteria, several wealth rank groups can be identified in the Delta region. A number of variables such as geographic location, agro-ecosystems and rainfall patterns all influence the wealth status of households found in the Delta. For example, according to our consultations during the mission, in the upper delta, a medium to small scale farmer would be considered one who owns less than 20 acres; whereas in the lower delta, a medium to small farmer would be considered one who owns less than 30 acres – based on the general agricultural productivity of the land (i.e., productivity of land usually higher in the upper regions of the delta compared to the lower delta where there is saline intrusion). These aspects need to be taken into consideration when targeting interventions to different wealth groups.

Natural shocks such as climatic events often impact livelihood activities in the Delta region. For example, 44 percent of agricultural households experienced floods from 2003 - 2008, and 43 percent experienced drought, figures above the national average (PONJA, 2008). Furthermore, Cyclone Nargis destroyed the livelihoods of entire households and killed wage earners in nearly half of all households in impacted townships. Although there has been significant recovery since the cyclone struck in May 2008, many households are still worse off now than they were before the cyclone (MercyCorps 2011; WFP 2008). Additionally, according to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA, 2008) it appears that townships that were severely affected by Cyclone Nargis are characterized by their high percentage of landless people, for instance, 62 percent and 71 percent of people in Bogalay and Labutta is landless, respectively.

With regard to gender equity, since the days of the Burmese kings, there have been laws in Myanmar protecting women’s rights and gender equality, although the Burmese society is considered patriarchal. These customary laws however are defined by tradition and set by usage. The general perception is that men are the main bread winners of the family and women’s incomes are only supplementary. Precise patterns of work, gender division of labour and time allocation in the households remain unclear however due to a lack of data. Women’s social networks are limited as is their access to information, knowledge (training), formal credit and markets. Based on our observations and focus group discussions it appeared that at the community level there were limited leadership and decision making roles for women. However this needs to be further investigated.

2.4.2 Challenges & Opportunities

Table 9 presents a brief summary of the key challenges and opportunities identified by the team during the scoping mission.

Table 9: Key challenges and opportunities identified by the thematic group on livelihoods, poverty and gender Challenges Opportunities

Inequality in access to resources • Tailored livelihood strategies for men, women and youth in – particularly to land different household wealth categories. • Developing effective financial, social and knowledge information services systems. • Review of land use and ownership policies

Limited economic opportunities • Explore mechanisms for diversifying or expanding on other potential suitable opportunities (farming and off-farm livelihood activities). Further strengthening the integrated farming systems. • Improving access to markets and participation in value chains. • Invest in development of innovation and adaptive capacity of poor men and women • Improved education opportunities and sustained schooling to enhance the skills and marketability for off-farm employment

Conflict between farmers and • Exploring collective action opportunities fishers due to water management issues

Narrow sectoral approach in • Explore mechanisms for better coordination and long-term planning and implementation integrated planning amongst the different agencies.

2.4.3 Knowledge gaps and associated research questions

Knowledge gaps

• A better understanding required on the socioeconomic profiling and wealth categories found in the different agro-ecological and geographical regions of the Delta to ensure appropriate targeting of suitable interventions. • The absence of relevant disaggregated data and qualitative and quantitative information on the situation of women in agriculture, fisheries and other sectors poses a problem for understanding and addressing any constraints they may face • Knowledge on only a very limited range of livelihood options and choices for poor men and women, especially in the lower Delta region of the Ayeyarwady

Researchable topics

• Characterization studies to better understand the socioeconomic profiling and wealth categories found in the different agro-ecological and geographical regions of the Delta. • Characterization study on gender to understand the social norms underlying the gender issues in Delta and their influence on livelihood options and choices of women and girls. • Diagnostic studies to assess current practices and develop tailored livelihood strategies for men, women and youth in different household wealth categories (Small holder farmers and landless) • Explore mechanisms for diversifying or expanding on other potential suitable opportunities and further strengthening the integrated farming systems • Identify and support opportunities for collective action • Invest in development of innovation and adaptive capacity of poor men and women

2.5 Information management, capacity building, GIS

Information management (including geospatial information where pertinent) and capacity building transcend the various sectoral aspects covered in the preceding sections, particularly as the 3CRP initiative adopts a sustainable 7 livelihoods approach in conducting R4D\RinD (Research for Development /Research in Development) in agricultural development. Communities in the Ayeryawady Delta engage in a mixed portfolio of livelihood activities: farming, fishing, fish farming, animal husbandry, on- and off-farm labour, migrant workers, petty and non-farm businesses, etc. In a scenario of a joint CRP program for Myanmar – starting with the 3 CRPs that have taken the initiative of conducting the recent scoping mission – it is envisaged that while each CRP focuses on its respective research thrusts there is scope for working together on overarching aspects (such as land and water use planning, livelihoods, environment, etc.), possibly covering common target sites within the Delta. Joint efforts could also be made in contributing and complementing information generation on common themes.

2.5.1 Information Content

A multi-disciplinary approach of the 3CRP initiative would require a diverse range of information including hydro-meteorological, pedological, ecological, technological and socio-economics as well as take account of wider considerations about markets, institutions, governance, policies and even community and individual values. Correspondingly there is a diversity of data needs at various spatial and temporal scales from a diversity of sources – secondary for broad scale as well as primary for pilot sites.

To date, the most comprehensive data collection and integration was conducted for the Ayeryawady Delta Master Plan in 1980 – on soils, hydrology, salinity intrusion, tidal fluctuation, sea surges, land use, cropping intensity, crop calendar, area and yields, fisheries, population, water control infrastructure (embankments, polders), navigation, etc. No update of this comprehensive study has been done since, on the Delta Master Plan or the integrated knowledge base. Secondary data are available at a number of government organizations (GO) and international organizations (IO) but vary in thematic and geographical coverage and in scale and creation dates8.

It is pertinent to focus on common, key data sets relevant for the CRPs that provide a synoptic view of the delta conditions that influence, and are influenced by, the use of its land and water resources to support livelihoods and its economy. These would include the following.

Biophysical and land use information on climatic conditions and state of the natural resources: changes over time and with use and management

Hydro-meteorology: The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DoMH) has 115 fulltime meteorology and meteorology/hydrology stations, but only 3 are in the Delta. In addition there are 110 part time (i.e. wet season only) rainfall stations. Hourly measurements are only implemented in emergency situations, but rainfall intensity is not measured. The quantity and quality of the meteorological information available in Myanmar does not provide sufficient data for reliable isohyetal mapping

7 Emphasizing economic, social and environmental sustainability 8 A comprehensive catalog of diverse data sets related to various aspects of food security and nutrition is provided in Nyunt Nyunt Win, 2013. Myanmar Report on Food Security and Nutrition: Data Cataloging (http://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/REPORT%20ON%20DATA%20CATALOGING_8%2 0April%202013.pdf)

26 and for carrying out agro-meteorological modelling for crop forecasting and yield prediction9. However, satellite imagery for rainfall estimation and vegetative cover, and daily rainfall forecasts are readily available.

The Hydrological Division of DoMH is responsible for hydrological measurements at about 70 hydrological stations, including 30 discharge, 20 sediment discharge and 15 water quality stations, mainly to monitor salinity intrusion in the delta10. The monitoring data used for hydrological forecasts, including daily, decadal, monthly, seasonal water level forecasts for 8 major rivers: Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, Sittaung, Thanlwin, Dokehtawady, Bago Shwegyin and Ngawun. The government has invested about 100 million Kyats (about 1 million USD) to DoMH for GIS flood hazard analysis and flood simulation in the upper parts of Chindwin, Ayeyarwady and Shwegyin rivers. Besides the network managed by DoMH, there are about 200 gauging stations managed by the Irrigation Department for water level recording and discharge measurement11. However, many of these stations record water-levels only in the wet season and do not have rating equations to convert levels to flow.

An upgrading of the national hydro-met network, comprising about 150 new monitoring stations and the establishment of a data management system, is proposed under the auspices of the World Bank’s Integrated Water Resources Management project. This holds the promise of more regular and comprehensive data on hydro-meteorology. The salinity and tidal regimes within the Delta largely determine the suitability for various crop and fish production systems. Retired engineers from the Irrigation Department have been very informative about the historical development of water control infrastructure in the delta and have provided salinity and tidal maps produced for past irrigation projects. However more updated information is needed.

Land cover/land use: The 1953 Land Nationalization Act in 1953 has been repealed by the 2011 Farmland Law12. Under this law “the right to use farmland” given to the “agriculturist” for boosting agricultural production means the State remains the ultimate owner of all lands. In addition, the 2012 Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law also allows the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation the right to utilize vacant, fallow and virgin land in the country, for agriculture, livestock poultry farming, aquaculture, mining and other government designated purposes.

No comprehensive mapping of land cover/land use has been done for the delta in recent years. IRRI has started producing land cover maps, township by township, based on interpretation of satellite imagery and extensive ground-truthing, with a focus on rice cropping systems. This mapping effort may be augmented with aquaculture as an additional land use category. This geodatabase can be supplemented with data from 2011 Agricultural Census13 for agricultural commodities that cannot be discerned and mapped directly from satellite imagery, for example livestock and capture fisheries. Information about fisheries license areas gathered by the MyFish project would also enrich

9 http://myanmarfoodsecurity.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=112&Itemid=141 10 Hydrological observations include water level (three times a day), evaporation (once a day), and water temperature (three times a day). Besides water velocity, discharge, sediment and river bed profile at selected sites are measured every year, and river water quality monitoring is carried out using portable photometer at selected sites. 11 According to the Inter-Ministry Task Force on Water Resources led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation 12 Under this 2011 Farmland Law, “farmland” means cultivable virgin land at the disposal of the State , and designated lands as; paddy land; ya land; kiang land; perennial plant land; dhani land; garden land; land for growing of vegetables and flowers; alluvial island; pasture land. 13 Conducted by the Settlements and Land Records Department with support from FAO

27 the database. Maps of mangrove areas produced by the Myanmar Department of Forestry are particularly useful for change detection analysis of this important forest type in the delta.

Socio-economic information on the delta population, communities and their livelihood means

Demography and households: As the last population census for Myanmar was conducted in 1993, researchers have relied on population and population density data of the 2011 Health Management Information System (HMIS) collected using the Department of Health’s network of midwives who collect data and report to their duty stations. These data are then aggregated to the township level. The population counts are reported by gender and rural/urban (defined as the major population center within the township). A new population census for Myanmar will be conducted this year (2014) by the Department of Population, Ministry of Immigration and Population. The census will provide the most geographically comprehensive demographic and household datasets, particularly if the data can be accessed at lower levels of disaggregation; but the data would probably not be released until 2015 at the earliest.

Livelihoods, labour, assets and equity: Observations made and focus group discussions held during the scoping mission with a limited sample of delta communities revealed issues of multiplicity of livelihood activities, gender differentiation in carrying out these activities, landlessness, on- and off-farm labor deployment, exposure (or lack of) to markets, credit, inputs, extension services – all of which impinge upon the communities’ ability to meet household food security and eke out a living. Geographically- comprehensive data on these variables, to reveal broader patterns (how prevalent, how widespread?) are scarce. Nonetheless, a number of sample household surveys conducted to obtain baseline information for carrying out disaster relief in the wake of the 2008 Tropical Cyclone Nargis did record variables related to household food security14. The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) conducted a baseline survey covering 4000 households in 252 townships throughout Myanmar, several of which are located in the delta. The IHLCA survey, conducted jointly by UNDP, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, UNICEF and SIDA, was a nationwide survey in which data were collected from more than 18,000 households to determine poverty levels, household living conditions and Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicators for Myanmar, including the Delta. This survey was conducted in 2005 and 2010 and so provides a unique snapshot of changes over time (UNOPS, 2011). These data could provide baseline information against which future primary surveys may be based and compared. It is anticipated that political and policy changes in future years will bring significant changes. For example, the recently approved Farmland Law and the Vacant and the Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law are likely to cause major changes in land use when regulations are implemented.

Map base for socio-economic data: Socio-economic data, especially reported statistics, are necessarily aggregated at some functional or administrative unit, e.g. village, township, union, etc. Mapping socio-economic data requires base maps of these functional and administrative units, preferably at the lowest aggregation level to reveal more detailed spatial patterns. The Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU; http://www.themimu.info/) has produced comprehensive country-wide maps of administrative boundaries from State/Region to Township levels, as well as village point locations and an associated standardized coding for the villages called the ‘Place code’ (abbreviated as P-code). The village

14 Among this are UNDP, 2009. Outcome/Impact Assessment of UNDP Support for Recovery of Cyclone Nargis Affected Rural Communities in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar, 30th November 2009, UNDP covering 4000 households in 160 villages; Mercy Corps, 2009. Rapid Food Security and Rice Harvest Assessment, Labutta Township, Ayeyarwady Delta, January 2009, covering 500 households in 25 villages.

28 locations, together with the P-code list, constitute a useful point-based GIS layer for geo-referencing primary survey data. It suffices for field surveys to record the associated village name, its township and district15, whereby its P-code can be assigned from the P-code list and hence all data pertaining to the village can be mapped.

2.5.2 Information management and capacity building

Collection, archiving and management of the kinds of information potentially of interest to the CRPs are being carried out by both IOs and GOs. In the case of geospatial data, the international efforts are evident at MIMU and the World Food Program (WFP).

MIMU: Established in 2009 primarily to support the mapping needs of UN-related organizations in Myanmar, MIMU focuses its GIS activities mainly on mapping administrative boundaries and villages, which are then used for inventorying locations of IO projects and activities throughout the country. Its 3W (Who does What, Where) project produces and updates, on a quarterly basis, geo-referenced datasets on what projects and development activities are carried out by which organizations at which locations, including LIFT projects. This is a useful information source for the CRPs to identify potential links with on-going projects and potential partners. MIMU’s GIS datasets are offered in the public domain.

WFP: The mapping work in WFP is presently focused on the Central Dry Zone where the program recently (in 2013) completed a comprehensive food security and nutrition assessment whereby 150 villages were surveyed. There are no plans yet to carry out a similar survey in the Delta.

FAO: The Food and Agriculture Organization initiated in 2011 a proposal for a Food Security Information System16 that aims at integrating data inputs from a range of organizations to construct indicators for monitoring the food security situation in Myanmar. Such a system calls for coordinated management on food-related information.

The Myanmar GOs that have varying levels of geospatial capacity include the following:

• The Remote Sensing/GIS Section of Forest Department has good facilities and a complement of trained technical staff with capabilities to carry out forest cover assessment (on-going using IRS LISSIII), mapping of dominant mangrove species composition using very high resolution satellite imagery, carbon and biomass assessment for each forest type (for REDD) • The Land Survey Department, which is responsible for making topographic maps and country boundary delineation. • The Settlements and Land Records Department (SLRD), which produces digital cadastral maps and is responsible for conducting the Agricultural Census • The Geography Department of Yangon University, particularly for GIS training and possibly consultancy work on GIS.

Other GOs that produce agriculture and fisheries-related statistical bulletins include the following:

• The Myanmar Agricultural Services (MAS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation produces periodic agricultural statistics.

15 This is to ensure that villages having the same name are correctly assigned to their respective townships and districts. 16 http://www.foodsec.org/fileadmin/user_upload/eufao- fsi4dm/docs/Shwe%20TM%20and%20TC%20Hlaing%20(May%202011)%20Myanmar%20Food%20Security%20 and%20Nutrition%20Information%20Scoping%20Study.pdf

• The Central Statistical Office of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is responsible for producing periodic statistical bulletins including agricultural statistics in cooperation with MAS. • The Department of Fisheries produces periodic fisheries statistics.

In general most IOs tend to build or depend on capacities (including for geo-informatics) independently of GOs, presumably for expediency of generating information and databases relatively quickly without having to deal with government administrative bureaucracies. Most IOs do engage with selected ministries, departments and universities for specific information gathering tasks. MIMU offers GIS training to other organizations and projects, international and national. However the GIS capacity of many GOs, particularly those in the agriculture and fisheries sectors, is presently limited.

2.5.3 Challenges and opportunities

As the CRPs plan towards a collaborative program involving multiple CGIAR Centers and national partner institutions, the issue of baseline information gathering should emerge early in the process to help identify research needs and agenda. The challenges lie in needing to gather and consolidate available information and identify crucial gaps relatively quickly, within the capacities of the IOs, while building the capacities of national partners to involve them in the process.

An initiative may be made for joint effort at mapping to understand the delta environment. Using resources for improving livelihoods sustainably requires that we think, plan and act spatially. A coordinated mapping effort initiated by the 3 CRPs would enrich knowledge integration and reduce duplication. Spatial and temporal data requirements depend on research and management objectives. In general, two types of datasets are required. For participatory experiments in agriculture and aquaculture such as improvement of cultivation techniques or water management at field-farm scale, detailed data at farm scale as water level and salinity, and socio-economic and livelihoods of households at the pilot sites are required. For out-scaling dissemination or management at larger scale as state or the whole delta, data of the whole population and area as agricultural census, long records of water level at all stations and river configuration profiles are required. While data of the first type (pilot sites) can be collected during CRP projects, data of the second type (population or whole delta network) require large budget and longer time for collection, therefore collaboration with other national data collection programs such as the World Bank hydro- meteo network or national census are required

Figure 6 depicts a modest start for such a process whereby the 3 CRPs, led by the respective CGIAR Centers, commit to sharing of data and resources to generate some common information and geodatabases that are of collective use.

Figure 6: Process for sharing data and resources to generate common information and databases.

Consolidating geographical data from disparate sources requires inter-agency cooperation and coordination, and the tasks ahead for even a modest attempt like this are not trivial. Embarking on such a process would foster partnerships and enhance institutional capacity for information management, and perhaps serve as a model for similar collaborative efforts among national agencies and eventually as an impetus for establishing a Spatial Data Infrastructure for Myanmar.

2.6 Partnerships and scaling

2.6.1 Key characteristics and observations

Agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries research and development activities in the Ayeyarwady Delta involve a wide range of stakeholders, including research, public, private and civil society organizations, operating within various networks from local to international levels. Various types of partnerships exist between these organizations, operating in different ways, with similar or different goals. It is increasingly recognized that enhanced partnerships between research organizations and development actors provide important opportunities for increasing development impacts from research. The CGIAR explicitly identifies partnerships, and knowledge sharing and learning (KSL) through and with partners as essential to achieving development outcomes and impacts.

The scoping mission had the opportunity to meet with government agencies at State and regional levels, NGOs, private sector and donors, and to gather some knowledge on the types of existing partnerships, and ideas on possible future opportunities for enhanced future partnerships for creating greater impact. The following summarizes the key points emerging:

• There exist various sectoral partnerships, which operate largely within the agriculture and fisheries sectors. These may involve Government, NGOs, private sector and Universities. For example, the Fisheries Research and Development Network (FRDN) has brought together the Department of Fisheries, Myanmar Fisheries Federation, the Food Security Working Group (FSWG), and Universities from Yangon, Dagan, Maubin, Hinthada, and Mandalay with

WorldFish as partners around research and development of fisheries and aquaculture. IRRI has also placed rice scientists within NGOs operating in the Ayeyarwady Delta and this has helped increase capacity of the NGOs and enhanced knowledge sharing and learning for researchers and partner NGOs.

• There are more limited partnerships across sectors - agriculture and fisheries for example, and health, nutrition and agriculture. The Food Security Working Group (FSWG) has helped promote some cooperation, but significant needs/opportunities remain for enhancing partnerships and integration across sectors at all levels. This is particularly important in the Ayeyarwady Delta region where many people are engaged in livelihood strategies involving agriculture and fisheries, and the agro-ecological systems are strongly interconnected. The lack of progress in developing integrated solutions to challenges involving water, fisheries and agriculture is probably symptomatic of a lack of institutional capacity (and policies) for cross-sectoral research and development partnerships.

• Partnerships that do exist among government, NGO and research partners operating within the Ayeyarwady Delta have tended to emphasise agriculture and/or fisheries technologies and production, but with less on development outcomes. In our discussions with NGOs in Bogolay there was less awareness on for example how investments in rice productivity might lead to household food security, nutrition and poverty reduction. There is a tendency to focus on technologies, rather than people. The LIFT program has recognized this issue, and recently invested in a nutrition project with Save the Children intended to seek ways to enhance nutritional outcomes from agriculture investments.

• NGOs, not surprisingly are very focused on “projects”, sometimes with short-term funding horizons of 1-2 years; this inevitably leads to competition and likely inhibits cooperation. The result is also less emphasis on sustainability of interventions and scaling from projects across the Delta landscapes. NGOs operate over hundreds of villages in the Ayeyarwady Delta representing a major resource and opportunity for sharing of learning and combining forces to create more impact at scale. Yet, mechanisms for knowledge sharing and learning are surprisingly limited, and lack an overall vision for change in the Delta region.

• Technical implementation capacity among government and NGO project implementers is generally weak, and could be strengthened. Partnerships between training/education providers and development agencies could clearly be strengthened to support more effective implementation. There is a suspicion that partnerships with community-based actors, farmers groups and fishers, which require paying special attention to the varying degrees of capacity and knowledge, and longer-term commitment are not receiving sustained attention.

All of the above suggests that whilst there is actually quite a diverse partner landscape within the Ayeyarwady Delta, with wide coverage, the opportunity that this represents for influence and change could be significantly enhanced through strengthened networks for knowledge sharing and learning and perhaps alignment around more explicit development outcomes that go beyond production gains within the agriculture and fisheries sector.

2.6.2 Challenges and opportunities

1. Strengthen cross-sectoral partnerships • Conduct events (eg Delta Forum) that improve dialogue and encourage joint planning and implementation across sectors

• Provide investment through/in more integrated programs of research in development that encourage/incentivise knowledge sharing and learning across sectors • Engage with government at state and regional levels to conduct joint research, learning and encourage integrated policy change (eg rice fish systems, polder water management). • Explore use of the Fisheries Research and Development Network (FRDN) type approach for an integrated agriculture-fisheries-water RinD initiative within the delta that promotes collaborative research agenda setting and implementation.

2. Capacity building • Capacity building needs consideration at various levels: i) within the organisations involved in research and development in the Ayerawaddy delta and ii) within community institutions and people to innovate and sustain initiatives beyond project grants and subsidies. Both are related, and require long-term investment. • A short-term intervention might be to assess current capacities (and ways of working) and explore ways of supporting institution building and individual capacity support, with an emphasis on local community-led/owned institutions.

3. Increased knowledge sharing and learning • Invest in creating spaces which offer opportunities for knowledge and experience sharing and learning between researchers and govt and NGO partners • Invest in more support to sharing among farmer/fisher innovators and farmer/fisher groups/associations

4. Inclusive approach with agriculture farmers, fishers, landless • Conduct a more integrated diagnostic through a participatory approach across sectors. Use this diagnosis to design and drive an integrated R&D agenda which is centered around poor and vulnerable social groups and their development challenges. • Give more focus to development outcomes/impacts.

SECTION 3: What next?

3.1 Description of opportunities (short and long term)

There was general recognition that there is much research and capacity building required in this region, and that it will likely take many years of incremental change to develop sustainable solutions. However, given that donors such as LIFT, USAID, and Australian Aid often have to report on outcomes within a 3 year timeframe, it is also necessary to identify likely short term outputs and outcomes. Against this background our recommendation is that rather than being reactive to the relatively short-term requirements of development donors, the CGIAR should use the opportunity provided by the 3 CRPs, to develop a strategic, long term and integrated approach, into which bilateral-donors are encouraged to fit their shorter-term programs. Thus, in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the CGIAR should lead donors rather than being led by them.

The scoping team identified key areas for targeted research over both the short term (1-3 years) and the long term (up to 10 years). Although the primary focus should be the Delta, the fact that it lies at the downstream end of a large basin, means that it cannot be considered in isolation. For some important research questions there is need to extend the geographical coverage to the whole basin. Most of the short term opportunities draw heavily on experiences with technologies and approaches that have been successful elsewhere in delta regions in Asia.

Our recommendations on R&D opportunities are purposely brief. In some instances we summarize in just one line an exciting area of research that should take 1-2 pages to do it justice. Section 2 provided more details on a specific research area.

3.1.1 Short term Opportunities

• Dialogue with donors and potential program partners – the first step with donors began in Yangon on the afternoon of Friday 7, 2014 (Appendix B). • Reporting back to national and local partners and agencies on the deliberations from this joint CRP mission. • Policy analysis and dialogue with different ministries • Undertake, with a wide range of stakeholders (including communities), participatory scenario building to better understand drivers and possible development trajectories of the Delta and to identify opportunities and challenges for the aquatic agricultural systems (as complex socio-ecological systems) that comprise it. • As an immediate priority, support the establishment of a Delta forum to accelerate dialogue and sharing of knowledge and learning among government, NGOs and the CGIAR community. • Within the framework of the Delta Forum, establish a smaller (cross-sectoral) group of young Myanmar scientists, researchers and R&D partners for capacity building. • Utilise the young Myanmar scientists group to undertake diagnostics in selected regions of the Delta to understand community aspirations, and assess social, production and environmental issues, relevant to aquatic agricultural systems (rice, fish, livestock etc.) and to land and water management. The participatory diagnostics would provide one foundation for preparing a future collaborative program in the Delta. • In collaboration with national data collection programs undertake a coordinated mapping and data (spatial and temporal) sharing effort, initiated by the 3 CRPs, to provide a baseline of information, enrich knowledge integration and reduce duplication. • Develop tailored strategies to foster inclusion and equity (across different socio-economic, cultural and gender groups) in decision-making processes related to development initiatives;

• Address conflict between farmers and fishers due to water management (competition for freshwater between fish and rice farmers) and chemical use – explore collective action opportunities; policy enforcement and/or awareness. • Introduce and pilot better integrated production systems (rice, other crops, fish, livestock) that suit the agro-ecology of the delta and make use of land and water resources in more complementary ways

3.1.2 Longer term opportunities

• Basin scale development – quadruple bottom line; balance economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts in an ethical framework that places foremost the rights of the people with whom we develop R&D partnerships. • Promoting ecosystem services and increasing resilience at a landscape scale: require research on riparian habitats and how they are managed. Presently there is low use of agricultural chemicals. A challenge will be to manage the likely increase of use that comes with intensification. Can we identify indicator species that provide an indication of the health of the environment and agro-ecosystems? • Improve forecasts on climate patterns, tidal variation, etc. o better understand the variability of rainfall, climate and sea level changes - modelling • Opportunity to develop links with CRP: Climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS) • Designing interventions across salinity transects at polder level. o A case study at a basin scale of livelihood benefits from best management practices for production (rice; fisheries) through efficient water management across three salinity gradients (high to low salinity) within a polder. • Exchange information on markets, pricing and standards • Information systems – Delta wide planning and sustainable resource use opportunities.

3.1.3 General issues

A number of the opportunities identified above relate to the need to review the operations of polders that were designed some 30-35 years ago and were built with the expectation that they could manage daily rainfall up to 3.8 cm (1.5 inches). A landscape approach is urgently needed on water flows, monitoring water quality, and tensions between rice producers and fisher folk over conflicting use of water at specific times of year.

Our focus group discussions in the delta identified that many of the areas had a high proportion of landless people. Given our expertise on production systems, a strong poverty focus is essential for any proposed activities. The impact of proposed activities on equity (socio-economic, gender, cultural) will need to be built into proposals.

The Director of the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), Andrew Kirkwood, provided interesting feedback on our short and longer term opportunities for research. He suggested that we could strengthen our poverty focus and make it more targeted. However, we need to identify which poor people are our target population and where? He further said that the CRP consortium could definitely add value in delta areas where there is greater economic potential – the upper and middle economic zones. These zones are experiencing rapid change. We should disaggregate small holders with economic potential, and those who are less likely to take advantage of access to new knowledge/technologies. Those with economic potential are indeed a large target population and our involvement could have a major impact on the livelihoods of this group. The lower zone of the

35 delta has much higher poverty and there is more limited ability by the small holder farmers/fisher folk to adopt new approaches. Poverty alleviation in the lower delta is a far greater challenge in the immediate term.

3.2 Possible framework for joint CRP studies in Myanmar

The three CGIAR centers have considerable experience of working together in Myanmar and in other deltas in the region. Building on this experience, we are confident that GRiSP, AAS and WLE (and in time other CRPs) could come together, and working with Myanmar partners, better understand how to develop and sustain a thriving agricultural and aquatic sectors in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

The three CRPs propose to work together with communities and R&D partners in the Delta to bring expertise and to apply research processes that can unlock the agricultural development potential. The knowledge and learning from the R&D processes will be shared with other communities and partners to support scaling of promising agricultural development opportunities. An objective would be to integrate the learning and scaling across productive sectors and through better water and land management, increase the productivity and resilience of rice, fish and livestock production systems and improve the livelihoods of local people.

Figure 7: Conceptual framework for integrated CRPs in Myanmar

The conceptual framework for integrating the CRPs (Figure 7) considers learning and scaling occurring in a dynamic system of inter-dependent natural, social, cultural, political and economic processes. This is represented in the learning from the aquatic agricultural production systems and by the scaling opportunities in water and land management. The characteristics of the livelihoods and gender equalities and the sustainability of ecosystem services are determined by the different interactions within the system and include processes that we have control and influence such as policies and technologies and those that we do not such as environmental change.

A key lesson of the previous studies is that obtaining outcomes, of the type envisaged by the IDOs, requires detailed understanding of both the biophysical and socio-economic elements of the multiple drivers affecting peoples’ livelihoods. This requires significant investment in time and resources: impacts cannot be obtained overnight. In both the Mekong and Ganges delta, research

36 projects have built on previous partnerships and accumulated understanding, expertise and knowledge developed over many years. The situation in the Ayeyarwady Delta is unique and although some lessons may be transferrable from the Ganges and the Mekong, there is currently a very limited local knowledge base and capacity on which to build. Consequently, the CRPs with their potentially long investment horizons (ca. 10 years), provide an ideal mechanism for conducting the long-term research and building of partnerships required to bring about meaningful and lasting positive change in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

Full understanding and scaling of results is only possible with a wide range of government and other partners. To date, the 3 CGIAR centres have experience of working with a number of partners in Myanmar. We anticipate that the following will be key partners in a future research program:

• Myanmar Department of Agriculture providing guidance on agriculture and land use policy; • The Myanmar Department of Irrigation and/or Water Resources Utilization Department (WRUD) providing guidance on irrigation; • Myanmar Department of Fisheries (DoF) providing inputs on fishery and fishery related issues • Myanmar Department of Forestry (DoFr?) providing inputs on forestry resources assessment and management, particularly mangroves • The Department of Agriculture Research provides input on rice research and other crops • Universities participating in the ACIAR Program including Maubin, Hithada, Yangon and Dagon; • Myanmar Fishery Federation (MFF) representing seven fishery associations including small- medium enterprises; • National organisations such as the National Engineering and Planning Services Co. Ltd. (NEPS); • International and local NGOs - GRET, Welthungerhilfe, MercyCorps, NAG, EcoDev, ECG, FREDA and Food Security Working Group (FSWG).

3.3 Possible coordination and funding of joint activities

The joint mission generated a tremendous amount of goodwill, sharing of ideas, and the development of exciting joint opportunities for R&D. To maintain this momentum each CRP needs to review this report and assign a point person who has the time to identify and follow through on selected opportunities in Myanmar. The current initiative benefited greatly from the leadership shown by Gareth Johnstone together with Grant Singleton and Matthew McCartney. We therefore recommend that a lead person be assigned to coordinate the CRP consortium.

The budget expenditure for the mission in February was less than anticipated – there are probably sufficient funds for a second visit for a select group of people in the first half of 2014 and to prepare the ground-work for the development of joint activities. Beyond then, funding of joint activities will require additional commitments with specific opportunities to be tied to scoping missions for specific donors. The current CRP joint initiative could provide an important gateway within (foster the involvement of other researchers from IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI) and between CRPs for developing partnerships for R&D in Myanmar.

LIFT currently provides the best opportunity for cross-linkages (section 3.4). The future funding of LIFT, which is drawn from 10 countries (including the European Commission), is uncertain; much depends on whether donor countries will prefer to enter into bilateral/multi-lateral projects with Myanmar. The potential to enter into a collaborative agreement with the World Bank or ADB is worthy of pursuit but it would need to be done at a high level, and would require strong support from relevant government agencies.

3.4 Some initial joint activities and preparation steps

IRRI currently has two active LIFT projects in Myanmar (Appendix E). WorldFish is negotiating a project and IWMI has completed a scoping mission and is now in further discussions. LIFT has already indicated their expectation for the projects to feed off each other. This is a promising development.

IRRI and World Fish also are involved in a common program funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in Myanmar (Appendix E). At this stage there is one common district (Maubin) where field activities are in progress but there is currently no joint research. There is an opportunity for collaboration, be it perhaps at an exploratory level.

In the short-term, we recommended the development of a Delta Forum that would bring together many of the different sector interests and build important learning alliances to better understand the development challenges and opportunities facing the delta. Collaborative activities would also extend to bringing young Myanmar scientists, researchers and R&D partners together to build capacity in undertaking diagnostics and to assess social, production and environmental issues relevant to aquatic agricultural systems (rice, fish, livestock etc.) and to land and water management.

Geographic focus

Although the recent mission was restricted to the mid and lower delta, this was deliberate to provide focus. Opportunities for collaboration need not be restricted to the Delta. Indeed, ACIAR is looking to develop a new project on land and water resources in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar.

Possible over-arching theme for collaboration between the three CRPs

The successful outcomes arising from joint activities between the 3 CRPs under the CPWF framework in the delta of Bangladesh provides an excellent model to build upon for Myanmar. A related opportunity in Myanmar would be integrated polder management. The issue clearly has cross- cutting interests and would benefit considerably through contributions from each of the CRPs. We propose that “integrated polder management” could become an overarching theme for the 3 CRPs in the Delta, because of clear benefits arising from our complementary expertise.

References

Dapice, D.O., Vallely, T.J., Wilkinson, B. and McPherson, M. 2011. Myanmar Agriculture in 2011: old problems and new challenges. Harvard Kennedy School. Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Dapice, D.O., Vallely, T.J., Wilkinson, B. and Montesano, M.J. 2010. Revitalizing Agriculture in Myanmar: breaking down barriers, building a framework for growth. Harvard Kennedy School. Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Driel, W.F. van & T. A. Nauta, 2013. Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment of the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar, Scoping phase. Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project, Global Water Partnership (GWP) and Delta Alliance, Delft-Wageningen, The Netherlands

Food and Agriculture Organization FAOSTAT (FAO–FAOSTAT). 2013. (http://faostat.fao.org/ accessed 05 November 2013).

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2011a. Myanmar and FAO. Achievements and Success Stories. Rome, Italy. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2005. Myanmar Agricultural Sector Review and Investment Strategy.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2009. The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Economic Crises – Impacts and Lessons Learned.

Haggblade, S., Boughton, D., Denning, G., Kloeppinger-Todd, R., Cho, K.M., Wilson, S., Wong, L.C.Y., Oo Z., Than, T.M., Wai, N.E.M.A., Win, N.W. and Sandar, T.M. (2013). A strategic agriculture and food security diagnostic for Myanmar. Working paper prepared for USAID. 96pp.

Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar: IDEA International Institute, Quebec City, Canada in collaboration with IHLCA Project Technical Unit (UNDP), Yangon, Myanmar, with support from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Myanmar, June 2007;

LIFT Baseline Survey Results (2012). Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund. Yangon, Myanmar.

PONJA: “Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report”, 2008, Tripartite Core Group comprised of representatives of the Government The Union of Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations with the support of the Humanitarian and Development

MercyCorps (2011). Myanmar energy poverty survey. Yangon, Myanmar. pp 21. http://www.mercycorps.org/sites/default/files/myanmar_energy_poverty_survey.pdf

World Bank (2010). Myanmar. Nutrition at a Glance.

World Food Programme (WFP). 2008. Post‐Nargis Affected Areas: Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions, Myanmar. The United Nations World Food Programme, Myanmar.

Appendix A: Ayeyarwady Delta Dry Run Report

The dry run trip was intended to gathering some information on the possible sites to visit, arranging for meetings and field visits and developing the itinerary of travel for the 3 CGIAR Research Programs (CRP) scoping mission in the Ayeyarwady Delta scheduled from February 3rd to 7th, 2014. Khin Maung Soe (WorldFish), Donna Casimero (IRRI) and Saw Aung Ye’ Htut Lwin (Department of Fisheries - DoF) undertook dry run to Maubin, Pyapon and Bogalay townships from January 14th to 17th. The appropriate sites for the scoping exercise were identified with the local agencies prior to the dry run and preliminary information was collected while establishing the logistics with the stakeholders to interact with the scoping team (focus group discussion). The present document gathers the field notes taken along this introductory mission and is intended to provide the team members with some first insights on the sites to be visited during the scoping mission.

No Study sites and Focus Group Discussions Day 1: Monday 3rd February 2014

Location: Maubin Travel distance: 1h40 minutes from Yangon Site: IRRI paddy research fields 1. Venue: Department of Agriculture Extension Camp, Lae Gaing Village on the way to Maubin Site description: (i) Visit IRRI paddy research fields; and (ii) Discussion with local paddy farmers The scoping team will be interviewing 3 to 5 paddy farmers on-site.

Location: Maubin Travel distance: 40 minutes from Lae Gain Village Site: Meeting and general discussions with various departments (officials) and stakeholders on agriculture, fisheries and water Management. Venue: “Panwady Reception Hall” Stakeholders: o District and Township Officers from - Local Management, 2 - Department of Agriculture (DoA), - Department of Fisheries (DoF), - Department of Irrigation (DoI), - Department of Cooperative (DoC).

o Fishery/agriculture traders (organizations) o Local IGOs/NGOs staff, o Local cooperatives, o Local operators for fisheries, agriculture, processors and producers Service providers (Agriculture machinery dealers) o

Location: Maubin

Site: Kyone tar Inn Leasable Fishery, Kyone tar village. 3. Distance: 60 minutes from Maubin (40 minutes by car and 20 minutes by long tail boat) Site Description:

Informant is U Tin Maung, actual leaseholder of the site for a five years arrangement (long lease). In addition the scoping team will have the opportunity to interview local farmers and fishermen.

Recent history of the lease: 1st five years (1996/1997 - 2001/2002) U Tin Maung 2nd five years (2002/2003 - 2007/2008) other lease holder 3rd five years (2008/2009 - 2013/2014) U Tin Maung

Lease area is about 6 miles long of an inundated area (400 acres during rainy season) in Kyone tar creek. Tidal effect is 4- 7 feet. Actual lease cost (2014) is Ks 1.6 million (10% annual increment) and the leaseholder has the obligation to invest 10% of the lease cost in stock enhancement.

Fish resources exploitation in the lease can be separated in 3 components:

(a) Fishermen from the village own boats and capture fish in the lease area using set gill nets, cast nets and dredging. The arrangement is a catch-sharing system at “65:35” which means that fishers get 35% of the daily catch. Presently, 12 boats with about 24 fishermen are exploiting the lease under this system. It was observed and reported that one boat can exploit 10-15 viss (15-25 kgs) per day in January. Catch is reported to be higher during the summer months (February to May). This type of capture is practiced year- round (no season).

(b) Filter traps are erected (using recycled nets instead of usual bamboo screen – Leaseholder reported an investment of about Ks 8 million). Those structures are usually dismounted by the end of the rainy season (November-December) when water retreats but are reported to be exceptionally used year-round in this lease (see further explanation), the best catch being obtained from June to November. The leaseholder employs 6 men for that activity.

(c) Fish refuges: In the shallow water, “bushes” are fabricated with branches and aquatic plants along the side of creek. With that latter technique, fish harvested from March to April.

During the rainy season, the creek water overflows and the water surface reaches its maximum capacity: the whole lease area is then considered as a fishing ground. Normally, filter trap fishing season (c) terminates by November/December (end of rainy season) and the trap structures are demolished; all of the remaining fishes in the creek are caught before the seasonal flood plains become dry and are then converted in paddy fields for rice cultivation during the summer, period during which the land owners (farmers) have the legal right to cultivate summer paddy. The leaseholder owns himself 250 acres of the land (63%) and employs 6 men to farm his land.

However the leaseholder never demolishes the trap, does not dry out creek water, and continue fishing using small traps, agreement with village fishermen (catch-sharing system depicted above) all year-round. This way, seeds and broodstock are conserved from a year to another and it is perceived (by the leaseholder) that this has a positive impact on productivity.

Common fish captured in the lease include snakehead, catfish (those 2 being high value species and representing 10-20% of the catches), carp, sheet fish and gourami. Catches are sold fresh in Maubin market and sometimes up to Yangon markets. Annual catch is about 15,000-20,000 viss.

Wages in effect applied by the leaseholder are a monthly Ks 60.000 for men (provided also with shelter and food).

Location: Maubin Site: Fish processing site in Thae Phyu village Distance: 45 minutes by long tail boat from Kyone tar Inn leasable fisheries Site description: 4. Informant is U Tin Maung (same than previous site) and the site visited is an additional business that he is operating: part of the fish production obtained from the lease is processed on-site through the employment of about 10 women/girls from the neighboring villages. Most of the employees are relatives from his workers and are paid a monthly fee of Ks. 50,000. Commodities processed are mainly dried fish (snakehead, spiny eel, and gourami) and fermented fish (processed from an assortment of fish species).

th Day 2: Tuesday 4 February 2014

Location: Pyapon Travel distance: 3h00 from Yangon Site: Meeting and general discussions with various departments (officials) and stakeholders on agriculture, fisheries and water Management. Venue: Fisheries Institute, Department of Fisheries, Pyapon District Stakeholders:

o District and Township Officers from - Local Management, 5. - Department of Agriculture (DoA), - Department of Fisheries (DoF), - Department of Irrigation (DoI), - Department of Cooperative (DoC).

6. Location: Maubin

Site: IRRI paddy research site in Naung Daw Gyi village

Distance: 30 minutes from Pyapon

Site Description:

Informants are Radanar Ayar and U Zaw Gyi, two farmers involved in a participatory variety selection field trial (USAID funded project). The later consists in field-testing 12 varieties/lines and 1 local variety.

Location: Pyapon

Site: NGOs and various livelihood activities in Thae Ein Kyoung Su village

Distance: 45 min from Naung Daw Gyi village (5min by car and 40min by long tail boat)

Site Description:

The scoping team will have the opportunity to interact with various stakeholders/activities taking place in Thae Ein Kyoung village, namely (a) Paddy cum, fish and duck (NAG) (b) Fishermen Development Association FDA (c) Eel culture in wooden tank (NAG). 7. Thae Ein Kyoung village profile:

o 168 households (total population of 763: 353 men/410 women) o 62 paddy farmers for 575.85 acres of paddy fields o 41 fisheries households o 4 carp fish farmers 5 small-scale eel farmers (wooden tanks) o

(a) Fishermen Development Association (FDA) is an NGO established in 2011 (registered in 2013) operating in 3 townships of Pyapon District (namely Pyapon, Bogalay and Dedaye townships: total of 71 villages) focusing mainly on fisheries communities, organizing members in income cluster groups and providing microfinance services to the formed groups. The NGO has a total of 1368

members among which 47 in the visited village. The objectives of the NGO are defined as follows:

(i) To improve fishers livelihoods; (ii) To independently access fisheries resources with the frame of fisheries legislation; (iii) To conserve fisheries resources; (iv) To introduce small-scale fish farming; (v) To operate fish marketing; (vi) To support fisheries products processing (fish crackers, dried fish, etc.); (vii) To collect funds and disburse as small loans to members Note: Loans with 2% interest: 1% for village development and 1% for FDA (operational cost)

(b) Network of Activity Group (NAG) and Wetland Alliance: Paddy cum, fish and duck farming

Informant is U Tun Tun, a farmer who is operating paddy cum, fish and duck integrated farming system with the support of NAG. The introduction of the technology starts with the field preparation which consists in digging a 12’x3’ canal along the perimeter of a 5 acres paddy field. The informant reported the following information:

o Paddy varieties cultivated are Bay Gyar, Nan Khar and Paw San; o Fish stocked in the ditch are pacu (1000), catfish (14,000) common carp (14,000) and catla (1000); o Paddy is grown from July to November without reduction in rice yields (150baskets/acre); o Water is topped up over the paddy field after harvest; o Duck (700) are layers and produce (in addition to fertilizer?) 450 eggs daily; o The activity is a trial (on-going first attempt) and is operated by two farmers in the village.

This is another activity piloted by NAG in the village. The scoping team will have the opportunity to interact with one of the 5 farmers involved in the activity.

th Day 3: Wednesday 5 February 2014

Location: Pyapon

Distance: Located in Bogalay town

Site: Meeting and general discussions with various departments (officials) and stakeholders on agriculture, fisheries and water Management.

Venue: Bogalay Tint Aung Library

Description:

 Morning session: 8. Discussions to be led by IRRI will focus on agriculture and the possible opportunities for interaction to develop fish production and improve water management in the townships of Pyapon District.

 Afternoon session: In the afternoon, IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI will break into separate groups to hold closed meetings with relevant stakeholders.

 Evening session: In the evening, IRRI will organize a joint dinner to be attended by all participants. Discussions to be led by IRRI will focus on the progress of IRRI/partner NGOs/Departments of Agriculture (DoA) and Agricultural Research (DAR). Discussion will also tackle the possible opportunities for interaction to develop fish production and improve water management in the townships of Pyapon District.

th Day 4: Thursday 6 February 2014

Location: Pyapon

Site: Fisheries landing site and fish processing activities in Myint Tan village

Distance: 2h30 from Bogalay (1h45 by car and 45min by long tail boat)

Site Description:

The scoping team will have the opportunity to interact with U Win Naing and Daw Tin Tin Win, who 9. respectively have 20 and 10 years’ experience in the fisheries sector. The first operate prawn trapping with set raft in coastal shallow water and the second use large stow nets set with boat.

The group will also have the opportunity to witness some fish processing activities (mostly salting and drying) which products are destined to Yangon processed fish wholesale market (Bayint Naung Road). During the fishing seasons (August to September and April to May), additional labor is reported to be involved in shore labor activities (sorting, processing and packing): the later are usually provided with meal, accommodation and monthly wage (men: Ks 50,000/women: Ks 40,000/girl: Ks 30-35,000)

Appendix B: Itinerary for 3 CRP scoping mission in the Delta (Maubin, Pyapon and Bogalay)

Date Transport From: To: Scoping sites

Yangon Lae Gaing village IRRI paddy research fields (1) 06.30 08.20 Time on-site: 45 min Meeting and general discussions Lae Gaing village Maubin in Panwady Reception Hall (2) 09.05 09.45 1 van and Time on-site: 1h30 1 minibus Lunch in Maubin Panwady Restaurant

February (11.15 - 12.00) Time allocated: 45 min

rd Kyone tar Inn Leasable fisheries 3 vans and Maubin Kyone tar Inn (3) 3 boats 12.00 13.00 Time on-site: 45min Kyone tar Inn Thae Phyu village Fish processing site (4) 3 boats 13.45 14.30 Time on-site: 30 min Monday 3 Monday 3 vans and Thae Phyu village Maubin Change vehicles in Maubin 3 boats 15.00 15.30 1 van and Maubin Yangon Return to Yangon 1 minibus 15.30 18.00 Night Stop in Yangon Meeting and general discussions Yangon Pyapon

in Fisheries Institute (5) 06.30 09.30 Time on-site: 2h15 1 van and Lunch in Pyapon Restaurant (tbi) 1 minibus (11.45 – 12.30) Time allocated: 45 min February

Naung Daw Gyi

th Pyapon IRRI paddy research fields (6) village 12.30 Time on-site: 45 min 13.00 NGOs and livelihoods activities Naung Daw Gyi Thae Ein Kyoung Su 1 van (7) 13.45 14.55

Tuesday 4 Tuesday 1 minibus Time on-site: 1h45 3 boats Thae Ein Kyoung Su Bogalay town Return to Bogalay 16.40 17.50 Night Stop in Bogalay (Ar Kar Kyaw Hotel) Stay in Bogalay Meeting and general discussions in Tint Aung Library (8)

(9.00 – 12.00)

th Time allocated: 3h00 Lunch in Bogalay (restaurant tbi) (12.00 - 13.15)

CRPs to hold closed meetings 1 van and Stay in Bogalay

February with their respective 1 minibus (13.15 – 18.00) stakeholders (8) Wednesday 5 Ti ll t d 4h45 Stay in Bogalay Joint dinner organized by IRRI (8) (18.00 – 21.00) Time allocated : 3h Night Stop in Bogalay (Ar Kar Kyaw Hotel)

Fisheries landing site and fish Bogalay Myint Tan village

processing activities (9) 07.00 09.30 th 1 van Time on-site: 2h00 1 minibus Myint Tan village Pyapon Return to Pyapon 3 boats 11.30 12.30 Lunch in Pyapon February (restaurant tbi)

Thursday 6 (12.30 – 13.45) 1 van and Pyapon Yangon Return to Yangon 1 minibus 13.45 17.15 Night Stop in Yangon

CRP Scoping Debriefing and development of

th integrated CRP concept Venue: Yangon Division (morning session) N/A Department of Fisheries Office Bayint Naung Road, Insein Preliminary findings of the CRP Scoping Township February Friday 7 Friday mission to development actors in Myanmar (afternoon session)

Appendix C: List of people met

Name Position Organization Sr. I. Maubin Township (2 Feb Monday Morning)

1 U Aung Kyaw Moe Assistant Township Fisheries Officer, Department of Fisheries, Maubin Township 2 U Myo Thein Assistant Township Fisheries Officer 3 U Aung Myo Thant Field supervisor IRRI 4 U Myint Naing Assistant Township Fisheries Officer Department of Fisheries 5 U Zaw Win District Officer Department of Water Resources Management 6 U Myint Aung Township Irrigation Officer Department of Irrigation 7 U Myo Thant District Agricultuture Officer Department of Agriculture 8 Daw Tin Lae Lae Oo Township Agriculture Officer Department of Agriculture 9 U Myint Oo Deputy Township Officer Department of Agriculture 10 U Soe Myint Assistant Township Officer Department of Agriculture 11 U Kyaw Soe Yee District Officer Department of Trade Promotion 12 U Mya Oo Assistant Township Officer Department of Trade Promotion LinShweWar Integrated Farming Cooperative 13 U Nay Win Chairman (Maubin) 14 U Philips King Chairman (Maubin District) Myanmar Fisheries Federation 15 U Kyaw Thein Lease holder Leasable Fisheries, Maubin

16 U Kyaw San Lease holder Leasable Fisheries, Maubin 17 U Myat Soe Fish Farmer Maubin Township 18 U Tin Oo Naing Fish Farmer Maubin Township 19 U Then Maung Agri-farmer Maubin Township 20 U Kyaw Thu Agri-farmer IRRI Model Farm Lae Kaing /Alan Village Maubin 21 U Hla Myint Agri-farmer Maubin Township 22 U Tin Myint Aung Rice Miller Maubin Township Leasable Fisheries Site Visit (Kyoung Tar Leasable Fisheries) Maubin (2nd Feb Monday Afternoon) 23 U Tin Maung Lease holder Kyoung Tar Leasable Fisheries Maubin 24 U Sein Than Supervisor (fishing) Kyoung Tar Leasable Fisheries Maubin 25 Daw Thi Supervisor (processing) Kyoung Tar Leasable Fisheries Maubin

II Pyapon Township (3rd Feb Tuesday Morning) 1 U Win Kyaing (Mr) District Fisheries Officer Pyapon District Department of Fisheries 2 U Myo Naing District Forestry Officer Pyapon District Department of Forestry 3 U Myo Aung Deputy Irrigation Officer Irrigation Department Pyapon Township 4 Daw Ohnmar Aye(Ms) Deputy Agriculture Officer Department of Agriculture 5 U Aung Ko Ko Zaw Office Staff Department of Cooperatives (Pyapon) 6 U Htay Myint Lease holder Leasable Fisheries, Pyapon 7 U Htun Htun Latt Lease holder Leasable Fisheries, Ahpyoung Village Pyapon 8 U Moe Chit Lease holder Leasable Fisheries, Ahpyoung Village Pyapon 9 U Nay Zaw Htun Coastal fishery operator Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon 10 U Myo Kyaw Lwin Fish Buyer (middleman) Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon 11 U Zaw Hlaing Htun Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon 12 U Myo Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon Oo 13 U Zaw Moe Aung Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon 14 U Aye Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon Zaw 15 U Than Soe Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon

16 U Than Lwin Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon 17 U Hla Htun Paddy rice farmer Koe Ein Tan Village Pyapon Thae Ein Kyaung Su Village in Pyapon Township (3rd Feb Afternoon) 18 U Soe Win Chairman Pyapon District Farmers Development Association 19 U Win Naing Secretary Pyapon District Farmers Development Association 20 U San Oo Paddy rice farmer 21 U Kyaw San Paddy rice farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 22 U Htun Htun Paddy rice farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 23 U Ka Lar Paddy rice farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 24 U Tin Paddy rice farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township Win 25 U Min Paddy rice farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township Min 26 U Than Zaw Oo Fish Farmer Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 27 U Win Naing (1) Fisherman Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 28 U Win Naing (2) Fisherman Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 29 U Hla Yin Fisherman Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 30 U Khaing Oo Fishermen Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 31 Daw San Cho Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 32 Daw San Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 33 Daw Win Mar Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 34 Daw Tin Win Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 35 Daw Than Than Nu Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 36 Daw Moe Kyi Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township 37 Daw Aye Mar Village/ local vender /general labor Thae ein Kyaung Su Vllage Pyapon Township

III Bogalay:Meet with BATWG an integrated technical working group (4th Feb Wednesday Morning)

1 Daw Thein (Ms) Assistant Township Manager Department of Agriculture (Mawlamyaing kyung Tsp) 2 U Aye Lwin (Mr) Assistant Township Manager Department of Agriculture (Bogalay Tsp) 3 U Nyein Myint Assistant Township Manager Department of Agriculture (Laputta Tsp) 4 Daw Tin Tin Myint Director Department of Agriculture research (Yezin) 5 U Nay Htun Delta Progrm Coordinator LIFT (Bogalay) 6 U Nay Myo Win Yadnar Ayeyar NGO Bogalay 7 U Aung Kyaw Thu LEAD (NGO) (Agri+ Fishery) Bogalay 8 U Kamg Khan Maung Ar Yone Oo (NGO) Crop production Bogalay 9 U Moe San AVSI(INGO)(Livelihood and rice) Bogalay 10 U Soe Myint WHH (INGO) (Paddy seed production) Bogalay 11 U Aung Myant Thu Researcher IRRI

12 Daw Khin Thawdar Researcher IRRI 13 Daw Palae Moe Moe Researcher IRRI

14 Dr Romeo Researcher IRRI 15 Ms XXXX Mercycorp (ING)

Appendix D: Terms of Reference

Purpose The purpose of the scoping is to gain a broad and shared understanding of the aquatic and agricultural development challenges for people in the Ayeyarwady Delta and identify opportunities for the CGIAR, particularly the CRPs (AAS, GRiSP and WLE), to collaborate with partners in Myanmar in a joint research and development initiative to address these challenges.

The specific objectives are: 1. Gain a broad and shared understanding of the aquatic and agricultural development challenges and opportunities for poor men and women in the Ayeyarwady Delta and supporting ecosystem including up-stream areas;

2. Articulate and better understand the main factors and drivers affecting the livelihoods and poverty of different social groups and production systems in the Delta and supporting ecosystems including up-stream influences;

3. Identify past and on-going research and development efforts that relate to the aquatic and agricultural development challenges and assess the extent to which an integrated CGIAR CRP research and development initiative (involving initially AAS, GRiSP and WLE) can through convergence and complementarity create added value development impact, and foster ecological sustainable production.

4. Develop a shared understanding and outline concept for an integrated CGIAR CRP initiative in the Ayeyarwady Delta, covering key objectives, likely timeframe, important stakeholders, the likely geographical focus of activities and target groups, potential partners and stakeholder engagement, institutional development challenges and follow up actions.

Activities ● Identify agricultural and related human development challenges and opportunities in the Ayeyarwady Delta, and assess to what extent these are aligned with the CGIAR CRP Goals, Intermediate Development Outcomes (IDOs) and CRP research themes.

● Meet with people from government, NGOs and academic institutions who can provide insights into the key agricultural development challenges and provide context and background information on these issues.

● Map recent and planned development programs and interventions and outcomes in the Ayeyarwady Delta by government, non-government and community-based organizations or agencies. This will provide an initial look at the scope of interventions in the Ayeyarwady Delta and the partnership landscape and networks.

● Develop a shared understanding among the CGIAR CRP team and stakeholders of a possible CGIAR research and development intervention. This might include a potential set of target areas in the Ayeyarwady Delta where research themes such as agro-ecology, market access, farming system, food, nutrition and health, ecological sustainable production, and policy or governance environment can be addressed with partners.

Expected outputs The scoping team is expected to produce: • A concept for delivering a research in development program that integrates the collective outcomes of the three CRPs and CGIAR Centers with national partners in Myanmar and is aligned to CGIAR IDOs; • Next steps report outlining what needs to be achieved and by whom and when.

Methodology The CRP team will visit the Delta for a period of five days, starting from 3rd to 7th February, 2014. Teams from each of the different CG Centers will work together in thematic groups that will be agreed during the briefing in Yangon and may include: production systems and food security; livelihoods, markets and poverty; ecosystem services, institutions and governance; and knowledge sharing and IMS.

Where possible meetings will be held with key stakeholders from the fishery, agriculture and irrigation sectors and will include government departments, famers, fishers, NGOs and private sector representatives.

Appendix E: Recent examples of cross CGIAR centre collaboration in the region

CPWF in the Ganges Delta

The primary focus of the CPWF Ganges Basin Development Challenge (BDC) is the polders of the south west and south central coastal zone of Bangladesh. The polders occupy an area of about one million hectares and support a population of about 8 million people who are largely dependent on agriculture and aquaculture for their livelihoods. Over 50% of the rural households are functionally landless (<0.2 ha), and about 80% of the rural households are living below the poverty line ($1.25/person/day), compared with an average of 40% for Bangladesh as a whole. While the rest of Bangladesh advanced over the past 40 years, as a result of the introduction of improved rice varieties, expansion of irrigation and Boro (dry season) rice production, and cropping system intensification and diversification, the coastal zone was left behind. Today the delta comprises some of the poorest and most risk-prone areas of the country

Many of the agriculture and aquaculture challenges in the coastal zone of Bangladesh appear similar to those faced in the lower Ayeyarwady Delta, such as too much or too little water, tidal flooding, soil salinization, severe cyclonic events, low productivity, lack of fresh groundwater and high poverty and landlessness. However, there are also many differences, for example in terms of social and cultural norms, institutions and policies, climate, and population density.

The CPWF Ganges program works at a range of scales – the total landscape, individual polders, farmers’ fields, homesteads and community water management organisations. A lot of the field work is focussed in 3 polders in a transect across the coastal zone - in areas faced by low, medium and high salinity. The program comprises 5 complementary projects, 4 led by CGIAR centres and 1 by the Bangladesh Institute of Water Modelling (IWM). The projects cover improved production systems development/evaluation (agricultural crops, aquaculture, homestead systems), water governance, regional scale surface water resource assessment (current and future situations), and the development of a comprehensive GIS database of the coastal zone. The GIS database brings together the findings of all projects and is being used to identify the most suitable options for improving production systems throughout the coastal zone. The development of the GIS database has been made possible by the strong culture of data sharing and expertise that has been developed across the partner organisations.

Some of the keys to the success of the Ganges BDC include:

• the overall program and scope of each project was designed by a small expert committee with strong experience working in the region, and with the projects designed to be complementary • commissioning of organisations with the right expertise to lead each project • partnerships with key NARES (National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems), including the addition of new, non-traditional partnerships with natural resource management agencies of the Government of Bangladesh • the early development of partnerships and sharing across projects, and tremendous strengthening of partnerships as a result of practices such as: o joint planning across the 5 projects prior to finalization of the project agreements with CPWF o joint field trips, especially during the earlier stages of planning and implementation o all projects meet together formally at least twice a year – it was 3 times in the first year when the project proposals were finalised and the program was initiated o many informal cross-project interactions

o some projects share common members o each project identifies things that it needs from other projects, opportunities for coordination across projects o building on existing strong partnerships with NARES o joint approaches to/dialogues with policy makers and donors • the commitment and passion of Ganges BDC team members

The 2nd phase CPWF Ganges Basin Development Challenge (2011-2014) was designed as a research for development project which would also complement and feed into the CSISA-BD project, with its primary goal of outscaling of improved technologies.

CSISA Bangladesh

CSISA-BD was launched in 2010, and is led by IRRI in partnership with WorldFish and, another CGIAR Centre, CIMMYT. CSISA-BD receives most of its funding from USAID Bangladesh, but has additional support from USAID Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program works through four hubs in the south — Khulna, Jessore, Barisal and Faridpur, and two hubs in the north — Rangpur and Mymensingh. Each of these hubs represents an agro-ecological zone with distinct cereal system production problems. The four priority districts in the south are in the Ganges delta.

CSISA-BD aims to increase the rate at which improved varieties and crop and aquaculture management technologies are validated, adopted and deployed. CSISA-BD also endeavors to place appropriate technologies within the context of markets, environmental and production constraints (and associated risk), and other barriers to production that, without complementary strategies, can hinder advances in agricultural productivity and the improvement of livelihoods. To ensure that farmers have better access to timely and accurate information, CSISA-BD engages in capacity building among frontline extension agents and service providers. Adaptive research complements these strategies by refining technologies so that they are suitable for local biophysical and socioeconomic circumstances, and by identifying and evaluating emerging technologies to improve the scope for future positive impacts.

In pursuit of the above objectives, CSISA-BD undertakes a suite of activities, including:

• Training of farmers on best practices for improving the production of rice, maize, wheat, pulses, vegetables, and other crops including fish cultivation and aquaculture with new or enhanced species and varieties; summer tomato and orange flesh sweet potato cultivation for nutritional purposes; and use and application of land/soil management practices and technologies. • Adaptive trials on best practice guidelines for some new crop technologies, including a shift towards conservation agriculture practices (reduced tillage, residue retention, judicious rotation), particularly for cropping systems that include maize and wheat; facilitation of mechanized planting using two-wheel tractor-drawn strip till planters and bed planters • Introducing new Boro season rice varieties tolerant to salinity, short-duration Aman (monsoon) season rice varieties and a mustard crop that can be cultivated between the Aman and Boro rice crops. • Promotion of alternative crops to Boro rice that require less irrigation, such as wheat, maize and sunflowers; and promotion of irrigation interventions using axial flow pumps, which use only two-thirds of the fuel to pump water as conventional pumps.

• Promotion of practices and technologies that reduce post harvest losses in rice including improved grain drying and storage technologies for small farmers, and the development of a five-ton capacity ‘flat bed’ grain drier, which uses rice husks as fuel to heat the air. • The collection of fish market prices and transmission of these to fish pond owners through extension staff, assisting fish farmers to obtain a fair price for their products. • Collaborating with women, known as ‘Info Ladies,’ who sell farmers web-based information, giving these women training in the use of web-based agriculture and aquaculture information sources to add to their existing information sources, which are largely health-, education- and government information-based.

DFID study in the Mekong Delta

Between 2000 and 2003, IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI collaborated in a DFID funded project in the Mekong Delta entitled: Accelerating poverty elimination through sustainable resource management in coastal lands protected from salinity intrusion: a case study in Vietnam. The project was intended to generate benefits for poor people through integration and application of knowledge about processes of environmental and socio-economic change in areas protected from salinity intrusion. The specific objectives included: i) understanding the processes that govern the changes in environmental and socio-economic conditions; ii) identifying the conflicts resulting from salinity protection; iii) developing farm technologies that accelerate the benefits and minimize the negative impacts of salinity protection; and iv) disseminating technologies and guidelines for resource management practices.

A number of key outputs were produced: i) an assessment of the impact of the salinity protection interventions on resource utilization and livelihoods with reports of data and knowledge arising from survey work on perceptions of change; ii) quantification of the effects of salinity protection based on both primary and secondary data and interpretation of remote-sensed data; iii) research tools and methodologies for forecasting the impact of salinity protection interventions with a new version of the VRSAP (Vietnam River System and Plains) model produced to simulate changes in water quality affecting rice production, aquatic resources and biodiversity; iv) an integrated knowledge base for delineating resource management domains; v) identification of farm level technologies, including new technologies, such as the Leaf Color Chart and new rice varieties; vi) guidelines for resource management strategies for coastal areas protected from salinity intrusion which were completed and disseminated by farmer participatory field testing of technologies, training of farmers and extension workers on improved rice cultural practices, meetings of resource users/stakeholders for tested option appraisal, and a workshop on regional strategies for resource management.

The impacts of the project were highlighted by the leaders of Bac Lieu province: “the project findings contributed realistically and effectively to the adjustment of land and water use policies in our province” and “… improved water management both for rice and aquaculture, as well as on-farm technologies for rice production”. The project contributed to the enhancement of livelihoods of farmers, especially in the eastern part of the project area, where the income of the poor had declined between 1996 and 2001 due to the complete control of salinity for rice intensification purposes. The project helped the government adjust resource use policy to accommodate rice, aquaculture and fishery, and reversed the trend of declining income of the poor from 2002 onwards.

CPWF in the Mekong Delta

In phase I of the CPWF program (2004-2008), IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI conducted a joint study entitled: Managing water and land resources for sustainable livelihoods at the interface between fresh and saline water environments in Vietnam and Bangladesh. This was a precursor to the current

Bangladesh study (section 2.1.1). In Vietnam, the project focused on the Mekong Delta. The project had five specific objectives:

• To enhance understanding of livelihood changes resulting from regional resource management and farm-level technological interventions. • To assess the impacts of agricultural and aquacultural land and water uses on water quality, aquatic biodiversity, and inland fisheries. • To develop ecologically friendly and socially acceptable techniques for rice and rice- aquaculture production systems. • To develop decision-support tools and an institutional framework for integrated multipurpose management of a dual fresh- and brackish-water regime to meet the needs of diverse water users, without an adverse impact on users and the environment. • To enhance human resource capacity and develop recommendations for resource management at the farm and regional level.

A series of multidisciplinary activities at different scales (field to regional) and with multilevel stakeholder (farmers to policymakers) participation was carried out. Adoption of the outputs of the project resulted in: i) improved food security and livelihood (higher incomes, better water quality, less conflict) for farmers, fishers, and especially poor women and children at the study sites; ii) better management of water resources because district and provincial resource management and extension personnel were supplied with decision-making tools; and iii) improved options for land- use planning and resource management policy provided to policymakers at regional/national levels in Vietnam and Bangladesh.

In the Mekong Delta, the project introduced a range of improved, diversified production systems and farming practices, targeted to different zones characterized by their land and water quality. These involved rice, upland crops, fish, shrimp, and crab. The project also successfully promoted poly-culture technologies to increase income and reduce economic risk to farmers. The project also provided options for sluice operation to control salinity and acidity to provide suitable water conditions that would enable diversified production systems (agriculture as well as brackish-water aquaculture) in different zones. The impacts of different water management options on water quality and fishery resources were investigated using an existing hydraulic and water quality model which was refined and improved with a new module for acidity simulation. A Bayesian model was developed to analyze the consequences of sluice-gate management for encompassing income, food security, and environmental indicators, and to highlight trade-offs among management outcomes.

The diversified and poly-culture production systems were widely disseminated by Bac Lieu provincial extension workers, and adopted by 9,000 farmers. Based on the project findings, the Bac Lieu provincial government modified its land-use plan and managed the water control sluices as proposed by the project. With the research findings and outcomes provided to the provinces, the project team received two awards (2005 and 2007) and many citations from the People’s Committee of Bac Lieu Province.

Current CGIAR interventions in Myanmar and the Ayeyarwady Delta

All three CGIAR institutions have experience working in Myanmar. This includes work funded by ACIAR and LIFT:

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) The Australian Government through ACIAR is funding a $AUD 10 million multi-disciplinary Research, Development & Extension (RD&E) program that is focussed on improving food security and

54 livelihoods for small holders in the Central Dry Zone as well as the Ayeyarwady Delta. The multilateral collaborative program has been developed in consultation with Myanmar counterparts, donors and research providers and covers rice (IRRI), legume crops (Tamworth Agricultural Institute), fisheries and aquaculture (WorldFish), livestock (University of Queensland) and extension (Asean Institute of Technology (AIT), University of New England) affecting the transfer and acceptability of the technologies developed through the program. The program is principally a technology driven RD&E investment where the successful utilisation of technological improvements at farm level via the RD&E process are seen as providing the link between the program activities and expected outcomes.

Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) LIFT is currently funding two projects coordinated by IRRI. Both are located in the Ayeyarwady Delta. The first project is entitled Improving livelihoods of rice-based rural households in the lower region of the Ayeyarwady Delta. The project works closely with NGO partners in three townships in the lower Delta to improve food security and livelihoods of rice producing households. The project provides technical advice to institutional partners to facilitate greater food security in these townships through raising productivity. This consists of advice and training associated with best management practices of rice production pre- and post-harvest. There are two main studies: participatory varietal selection of stress tolerant germ-plasm, and assessment of post-harvest problems and piloting of improved management.

The second project entitled Reducing risks and raising livelihoods in the rice environments of Myanmar through improved knowledge of environment and management, aims to overcome production constraints of rice and improve the livelihoods of farmers in the Delta and the Central Dry Zone, through better targeting of options to raise productivity and reduce risks. These four regions comprise approximately half of Myanmar’s rice harvest area and account for more than 50% of total production. The project will achieve farm‐level gains by using knowledge of the distribution and frequency of stress events to multiply successes at the field and household level through using “best bet” rice varieties and management options.

LIFT has also funded an IWMI project called Sustainable management of water to improve food security and livelihoods in the Central Dry Zone. LIFT is developing a program for the Dry Zone that that will be implemented from 2013 to 2016. As water related concerns are known to have a strong bearing on food insecurity and low incomes in the Dry Zone, LIFT undertook a rapid review of access to and management of water resources. This review, implemented by IWMI, will, in conjunction with other studies undertaken, contribute to the formulation of the LIFT program by identifying key issues with regards to water availability, access and management.