FOOD SECURITY POLICY PROJECT RESEARCH REPORT #7 Research Report August 2016 Rural Livelihoods in Mon State: Evidence from a Representative Household Survey Authors Myanmar Centre for Economic and Social Development: Aung Hein, Kyan Htoo, L. Seng Kham, Myat Thida Win, Aye Mya Thinzar, Zaw Min Naing, Mi Win Thida, Ni Lei, Lu Min, Naw Eh Mwee, Zaw Oo International Food Policy Research Institute: Mateusz Filipski, Ulrike Nischan, Joanna Van Asselt, Brian Holtemeyer, Emily Schmidt, Mekamu Kedir, Adam Kennedy, Xiaobo Zhang, Paul Dorosh Michigan State University: Ellen Payongayong, Ben Belton, Duncan Boughton Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This document is also supported with financial assistance from the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust (LIFT) Fund, supported by Australia, Denmark, the European Union, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Mitsubishi Corporation. We thank these donors for their kind contributions to improving the livelihoods and food security of rural people in Myanmar. The views expressed herein should in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of USAID, the United States government, or any of the LIFT donors. The contents are the sole responsibility of the authors, who are affiliated with the Centre for Economic and Social Development of Myanmar (CESD), Michigan State University, and the International Food Policy Research Institute. The authors of this report also thank the following people for their invaluable help toward the completion of this report: Tim Dobermann from the International Growth Center; Kyaing Kyaing Sein, Thawtar Khaing, Aung Lwin, Nwe Ni, Swe Mar Hlaing, Win Hsu Marlar, Nyan Lin Oo, and Kyaw Htay from the CESD administrative team; all officials from the General Administration Department, from the regional to the village levels; all members of the survey advance team; and all enumerators. Most importantly we thank all interviewees of the Mon State Rural Household Survey for their generous contributions of time and hospitality. We sincerely hope this report will contribute to the well-being of their families. 2 Executive Summary 10 1. Introduction 13 2. Data and methodology 13 2.1 Sample design and implementation 14 2.2 Community questionnaire 15 2.3 Household questionnaire 16 2.4 Data cleaning and analysis 16 3. Characteristics of Mon State 16 3.1 Geography and Administrative Divisions 16 3.2 Climate, Topography, and Agroecology 19 3.3 Infrastructure and Public Services 20 3.4 Economy 22 4. Household Characteristics 23 4.1 Household Characteristics and Demographics 23 4.2 Educational Attainment and Employment 25 4.3 Health 26 4.4 Housing Conditions 26 5. Household Activities, Incomes, and Assets 29 5.1 Overview 29 5.2 Location and Household Incomes 30 5.3 Income Sources and Livelihood Strategies 32 5.4 Landownership and Tenure Arrangements 37 5.5 Other Assets 42 6. Agricultural Income-Generating Activities 46 6.1 Rice Production in Mon State 50 6.2 Rubber Production in Mon State 61 6.3 Other Crops 69 6.4 Livestock 78 6.5 Agricultural Extension 81 7. Off-Farm Income-Generating Activities 82 7.1 Casual Wage Employment 82 7.2 Salaried Employment 85 7.3 Nonfarm Enterprises 87 7.4 Natural Resource Extraction (Excluding Fisheries) 94 3 7.5 Fishing 97 7.6 Other Income Sources 107 8. Migration and remittances 109 8.1 Migration Scale and Scope 109 8.2 Migrant Characteristics 111 8.3 Migrant Destinations 112 8.4 Working Abroad 113 8.5 Migrant Remittances 115 8.6 Conclusion: Migration in Rural Mon State 118 9. Household Consumption and Vulnerability 119 9.1 Consumption 119 9.2 Perceptions of Well-Being 122 9.3 Shocks 123 9.4 Access to Credit and Savings 125 10. General Conclusions 132 Appendix A. Sampling Frame 135 TABLES Table 2.1 Allocation of sample enumeration areas and households for Mon State Rural Household Survey by activity stratum 15 Table 3.1 Number of sampled households per township (ordered from north to south) 17 Table 3.2 Village access 21 Table 3.3 Access to services (percentage of villages surveyed) 21 Table 4.1 Household characteristics in Mon State, by agroecological zone 24 Table 4.2 Educational attainment by gender, for population older than 16 26 Table 5.1 Share of households in income quintiles, by location characteristics 31 Table 5.2 Household characteristics, by per capita income quintile 31 Table 5.3 Difference of quintile average from sample average (percentage) 34 Table 5.4 Agricultural landholdings by township (north to south) 37 Table 5.5 Agricultural landholdings by agroecological zone 38 Table 5.6 Number and area (acres) of holdings by land use type 39 Table 5.7 Means of parcel acquisition by parcel type 40 Table 5.8 Share of households possessing documents conferring user rights, by parcel type and document type (percentage) 41 4 Table 5.9 Parcel use change from original to current 41 Table 5.10 Prevalence of asset ownership by asset type and household characteristics (percentages) 42 Table 5.11 Contribution of remittances to the purchase of large assets in households with migrants (percentage of households reporting) 43 Table 5.12 Change in large asset ownership during the last five years, by expenditure group 44 Table 5.13 Prevalence of asset ownership by small asset type and household characteristics (percentage) 44 Table 5.14 Share of households owning small assets, percentages, by consumption expenditure quintile 45 Table 6.1 Mean income and costs for agriculture sectors 48 Table 6.2 Cost breakdown by agriculture sector 48 Table 6.3 Mon State rice farming characteristics 50 Table 6.4 Mon State rice varieties planted 52 Table 6.5 Mon State fertilizer use 53 Table 6.6 Mon State machine and animal use 54 Table 6.7 Mon State permanent workers in rice farming 55 Table 6.8 Permanent workers in rice farming by township (north to south) 55 Table 6.9 Temporary workers by activity 57 Table 6.10 Rice income and production by rice income quintile 58 Table 6.11 Income and costs (in Myanmar kyats) 59 Table 6.12 Costs 59 Table 6.13 Percentage of rubber farms by original use 62 Table 6.14 Stage of rubber production by township (north to south) 63 Table 6.15 Average fertilizer used (kg/acre) 64 Table 6.16 Per-acre rubber farm workers 64 Table 6.17 Average rubber prices per pound, May–June 2015 67 Table 6.18 Mon rubber income and costs (Myanmar kyats) 68 Table 6.19 Quintiles of rubber income (per acre) 68 Table 6.20 Households producing different crop types in Mon State, by crop and agroecological zone (percentage) 70 Table 6.21 Annual crop parcels cultivated by crop type (percentage) and mean parcel size (acres) 70 Table 6.22 Reasons for choosing to produce annual crops (share of households responding, percentage) 72 Table 6.23: Per-acre other annual crop costs 72 Table 6.24 Share of households using inputs by crop type (percentage) 73 Table 6.25 Mean value of crops sold and consumed 73 Table 6.26 Annual crop production costs and income (in Myanmar kyats) 74 Table 6.27 Characteristics of orchard crop production 77 5 Table 6.28 Average input costs and income per household for orchard crops (in Myanmar kyats) 77 Table 6.29 Distribution of households with livestock activities 78 Table 6.30 Average number of animals owned 78 Table 6.31 Commercial and subsistence livestock operations 79 Table 6.32 Distribution of livestock points of sale and buyers 79 Table 6.33 Distribution of live and slaughtered sales 79 Table 6.34 Average sale price per animal (in Myanmar kyats) 80 Table 6.35 Average total livestock revenue and profit (in Myanmar kyats, households with livestock) 80 Table 6.36 Mean total value of livestock sold or consumed, subsistence and commercial households 81 Table 7.1 Share of rural households participating in casual wage labor (percentage) 83 Table 7.2 Participation in casual labor by gender 83 Table 7.3 Location where casual labor is performed (percentage of households) 84 Table 7.4 Average wage by type of work (in Myanmar kyats) 85 Table 7.5 Gender breakdown of salaried employees, percentages 86 Table 7.6 Nonfarm enterprise activities in the Mon State sample 87 Table 7.7 Distribution of business activities by agroecological zone 89 Table 7.8 Nonfarm businesses and landownership, percentages 90 Table 7.9 Net monthly earnings by type of business, Myanmar kyats 94 Table 7.10 Distribution of resource extraction activities, by type and gender 95 Table 7.11 Average monthly earnings from resource extraction 97 Table 7.12 Types of net used, by fishing environment (percentages) 102 Table 7.13 Most important fish by quantity, by fishing environment (percentage of respondents) 103 Table 7.14 Most important fish by value, by fishing environment (percentage of respondents) 104 Table 7.15 Median catch per boat and estimated total catch for Mon State, by fishing area 105 Table 7.16 Share of households receiving income and annual average, by income source 108 Table 8.1 Distribution of households with and without migrants (percentage of respondents) 111 Table 8.2 Relationship of (nonseasonal) migrants to household head (percentage of households with nonseasonal migrants) 111 Table 8.3 Characteristics of current long-term migrants, by gender 112 Table 8.4 Average cost of migration 113 Table 8.5 Summary statistics on employment of migrants returned from abroad at destination, percentages 115 Table 8.6 Remittances received from current migrants