4.1. Business as Usual
Under a “Business as Usual” scenario, Myanmar’s agricultural future will look much like its past, characterized by low farm productivity, high volatility and consequently high levels of poverty and vulnerability. Myanmar’s low agricultural productivity, in relation to its neighbors and competitors, is the product of many decades of under-investment in the public goods that drive agricultural growth. While its neighbors have invested in agricultural research, extension, modern statistical systems, rural roads and telecommunication systems, investment in these growth drivers in Myanmar lags far behind.
High volatility -- of both production and prices -- stems in part from increasingly irregular rainfall accompanying climate change coupled with poor water control and increasingly frequent drought and flooding. As a result of ongoing changes in rainfall and climate, weather-induced shocks seem likely to aggravate patterns of production and price volatility. Unpredictable policies, particularly trade bans on major export commodities, likewise contribute to price volatility and drive wide year-to-year swings in farmer planting decisions. Reliance on single markets for export crops compound volatility problems. High transport and transaction costs together with the lowest cell phone penetration rates in the region combine to exacerbate price volatility and drive a large wedge between farmgate and consumer prices.
4.1. Business as Usual
Under a “Business as Usual” scenario, Myanmar’s agricultural future will look much like its past, characterized by low farm productivity, high volatility and consequently high levels of poverty and vulnerability. Myanmar’s low agricultural productivity, in relation to its neighbors and competitors, is the product of many decades of under-investment in the public goods that drive agricultural growth. While its neighbors have invested in agricultural research, extension, modern statistical systems, rural roads and telecommunication systems, investment in these growth drivers in Myanmar lags far behind.
High volatility -- of both production and prices -- stems in part from increasingly irregular rainfall accompanying climate change coupled with poor water control and increasingly frequent drought and flooding. As a result of ongoing changes in rainfall and climate, weather-induced shocks seem likely to aggravate patterns of production and price volatility. Unpredictable policies, particularly trade bans on major export commodities, likewise contribute to price volatility and drive wide year-to-year swings in farmer planting decisions. Reliance on single markets for export crops compound volatility problems. High transport and transaction costs together with the lowest cell phone penetration rates in the region combine to exacerbate price volatility and drive a large wedge between farmgate and consumer prices.
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