IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae15/211365.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Overcoming Isolation: An Exploration of the Rapid Growth in Pulse Exports from Myanmar

Author

Listed:
  • Boughton, Duncan
  • Haggblade, Steve
  • Kham, L
  • Kongabaugh, Steve
  • Thaung, Myo

Abstract

Pulse exports from Myanmar have grown into a $1 billion export industry in the 25 years since liberalization. As the first major agricultural sector to be liberalized in 1988, pulses offered uniquely attractive returns to both smallholder farmers and traders in the early years following government decontrol. By 1991, pulses had surpassed rice to become Myanmar’s most valuable agricultural export. This paper examines how private sector traders in Myanmar managed this exceptional feat, despite financial sanctions, acute limitations on all forms of communication and information flows and with the weakest rural infrastructure in South East Asia --- all hangovers from Myanmar’s three decades of international isolation and underinvestment in agriculture. Yet critical barriers remain that could eventually undermine Myanmar’s global competitiveness. Field interviews with key value chain actors in Myanmar between February and August 2014 form the basis for this market diagnostic.

Suggested Citation

  • Boughton, Duncan & Haggblade, Steve & Kham, L & Kongabaugh, Steve & Thaung, Myo, 2015. "Overcoming Isolation: An Exploration of the Rapid Growth in Pulse Exports from Myanmar," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211365, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:211365
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.211365
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/211365/files/Boughton-Overcoming%20Isolation-985.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.211365?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fujita, Koichi & Okamoto, Ikuko, 2006. "Agricultural Policies and Development of Myanmar's Agricultural Sector: An Overview," IDE Discussion Papers 63, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    2. Okamoto, Ikuko, 2008. "Economic Disparity in Rural Myanmar," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9789971693985, December.
    3. Akibode, Comlanvi Sitou & Maredia, Mywish K., 2012. "Global and Regional Trends in Production, Trade and Consumption of Food Legume Crops," Staff Paper Series 136293, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haggblade, Steven & Boughton, Duncan & Kham, L Seng & Thaung, Myo, 2014. "Winds of Change:A Rapid Appraisal of Four Pulse Value Chains in Myanmar," Miscellaneous Publications 234953, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Larochelle, Catherine & Katungi, Enid & Cheng, Zhen, 2016. "Household consumption and demand for bean in Uganda: Determinants and implications for nutrition security," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246457, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    3. Tun, Than & Kennedy, Adam & Nischan, Ulrike, 2015. "Promoting Agricultural Growth In Myanmar: A Review Of Policies And An Assessment Of Knowledge Gaps," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259018, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    4. Flurina Schneider & Mélanie Feurer & Lara Maria Lundsgaard-Hansen & Win Myint & Cing Don Nuam & Katharina Nydegger & Christoph Oberlack & Nwe Nwe Tun & Julie Gwendolin Zähringer & Aung Myin Tun & Pete, 2020. "Sustainable Development Under Competing Claims on Land: Three Pathways Between Land-Use Changes, Ecosystem Services and Human Well-Being," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(2), pages 316-337, April.
    5. Haggblade, Steven & Boughton, Duncan, 2013. "A Strategic Agricultural Sector and Food Security Diagnostic for Myanmar," Food Security International Development Working Papers 161372, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    6. Belton, Ben & Hein, Aung & Htoo, Kyan & Kham, L. Seng & Nischan, Ulrike & Reardon, Thomas & Boughton, Duncan, 2015. "• Aquaculture in Transition: Value Chain Transformation, Fish and Food Security in Myanmar," Food Security International Development Working Papers 230981, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    7. Zulu, Leo Charles & Adams, Ellis Adjei & Chikowo, Regis & Snapp, Sieglinde, 2018. "The role of community-based livestock management institutions in the adoption and scaling up of pigeon peas in Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 141-155.
    8. Forsyth, Tim & Springate-baginski, Oliver, 2022. "Who benefits from the agrarian transition under violent conflict?: Evidence from Myanmar," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116445, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Rammohan, Anu & Pritchard, Bill, 2014. "The Role of Landholding as a Determinant of Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Rural Myanmar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 597-608.
    10. Kudo, Toshihiro, 2006. "Myanmar's Economic Relations with China: Can China Support the Myanmar Economy?," IDE Discussion Papers 66, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    11. Lara M. Lundsgaard-Hansen & Flurina Schneider & Julie G. Zaehringer & Christoph Oberlack & Win Myint & Peter Messerli, 2018. "Whose Agency Counts in Land Use Decision-Making in Myanmar? A Comparative Analysis of Three Cases in Tanintharyi Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-30, October.
    12. Joshi, Pramod Kumar & Rao, P. Parthasarathy, 2016. "Global and regional pulse economies: Current trends and outlook:," IFPRI discussion papers 1544, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Magen, Benjamin B., 2012. "An Ex Post Economic Impact Assessment of Bean/Cowpea Crsp’s Investment on Varietal Development in Senegal," Graduate Research Master's Degree Plan B Papers 142739, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    14. Sharna, S.C. & Kamruzzaman, M. & Anik, A.R., 2020. "Determinants of improved chickpea variety adoption in high barind region of Bangladesh," International Journal of Agricultural Research, Innovation and Technology (IJARIT), IJARIT Research Foundation, vol. 10(1), June.
    15. Antolin, Luís A.S. & Heinemann, Alexandre B. & Marin, Fábio R., 2021. "Impact assessment of common bean availability in Brazil under climate change scenarios," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    16. Okamoto, Ikuko, 2009. "Issues Affecting the Movement of Rural Labour in Myanmar: Rakhine Case Study," IDE Discussion Papers 206, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    17. Belton, Ben & Hein, Aung & Htoo, Kyan & Kham, L. Seng & Nischan, Ulrike & Reardon, Thomas & Boughton, Duncan, 2015. "Aquaculture In Transition: Value Chain Transformation, Fish And Food Security In Myanmar," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259027, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    18. Belton, Ben & Win, Myat Thida & Zhang, Xiaobo & Filipski, Mateusz, 2021. "The rapid rise of agricultural mechanization in Myanmar," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    19. Zhang, H. & Chen, K., 2018. "Assessing Agricultural Trade Comparative Advantage of Myanmar and Its Main Competitors," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277474, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Inbasekar, Kalimuthu & Roy, Devesh & Joshi, Pramod Kumar, 2015. "Supply-side dynamics of chickpeas and pigeon peas in India:," IFPRI discussion papers 1454, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Development; International Relations/Trade;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:211365. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.