Innovation in Myanmar Under Challenging Circumstances
By Stuart Morris, Executive Director, East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation
Even before the devastating 28 March earthquake, the situation in Myanmar was increasingly unstable. Trade in regional vegetable exports—and the opportunity that this brought to vegetable farmers—has become severely limited. At the same time, with rural communities finding it more and more challenging to make ends meet, the need for domestic production—both for household consumption and for local markets—becomes even more significant.
With growing insecurity across the country, supporting smallholder farmers to increase the quantity and quality of vegetables that they supply is becoming more complex. In areas where our teams are still able to operate, we continue showcasing improved practices through peer-led demonstration plots. However, rather than using these plots to provide hands-on training to large groups of farmers, our teams are increasingly prioritizing lower-profile gatherings and one-to-one agricultural extension.
Unfortunately, there are now many areas where we are unable to maintain a direct presence. To provide support in communities where it is difficult to travel and where online learning is no longer possible, we leverage strategically placed learning farms. In normal situations (and in other countries) we use learning farms for action research (testing and validating new techniques), for inspiring key stakeholders on the value that vegetables can bring to rural economic development, and—as is the case in Myanmar—to train trainers.
The young women in this photo were among the 15 trainees who joined our EWS-KT team for a 3-month intensive hands-on training on a learning farm in southern Shan state. This initiative is part of the Foster Veg project, co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in partnership with HEKS/EPER.
Many of the trainees were from areas that we are no longer able to reach. Yet, equipped with new skills and experience, they are able to share this knowledge back in their own communities. As part of the entry requirements for the training program, they each agreed to train a further 50 farmers through supporting 5 demos each in their community or neighboring areas. The enthusiasm that they bring to this program and their commitment to their communities are absolutely compelling.
Despite the challenges in Myanmar, EWS-KT is committed to the long-term development of a smallholder-led vegetable sector in the country, and we continue to look for opportunities to spread knowledge of improved vegetable production, using our own core funding and through support from like-minded partners.
