Agricultural Policies and Development of Myanmar's Agricultural Sector: An Overview

This paper reviews the development of the agricultural sector in Myanmar after the transition to an open economy in 1988 and analyzes the nature as well as the performance of the agricultural sector. The avoidance of social unrest and the maintenance of control by the regime are identified as the two key factors that have determined the nature of agricultural policy after 1988. A major consequence of agricultural policy has been a clear difference in development paths among the major crops. Production of crops that had a potential for development showed sluggish growth due to policy constraints, whereas there has been a self-sustaining increase in the output of those crops that have fallen outside the remit of agricultural policy.

Border Barriers in Agricultural Trade and the Impact of their Elimination: Evidence from East Asia

Abstract: By means of a GTAP based-CGE model, we investigate the impact of the elimination of import tariffs and non-tariff policy barriers (NTPBs) on agricultural trade towards East Asian FTAs. To do that, we first measure the NTPBs by employing a widely-used method derived from the literature on border effects. Next, by adding into the GTAP database our estimates on the NTPBs, which the original GTAP database by its nature does not succeed in incorporating, we compute the impact of the entire elimination of policy barriers (the complete reduction of import tariffs and of NTPBs) on GDP.

Causality Relationships between Total Exports with Agricultural and Manufacturing GDP in Tanzania

This paper, investigates causal relationships among agriculture, manufacturing and export in Tanzania by using time series data for the period between 1970 and 2005. The empirical results show in both sectors there is Granger causality where agriculture causes both exports and manufacturing. Exports also cause both agricultural GDP and manufacturing GDP and any two variables out of three jointly cause the third one. There is also some evidence that manufacturing does not cause export and agriculture. Regarding cointegration, pairwise agricultural GDP and export are cointegrated, export and manufacture are cointegrated. Agriculture and manufacture are cointegrated but they are lag sensitive. However, three variables, manufacturing, export and agriculture both together are cointegrated showing that they share long run relation and this has important economic implications.

Participation in farmer's cooperatives and its effects on agricultural incomes : evidence from vegetable-producing areas in China

Chinese agricultural cooperatives, called Farmer's Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), are expected to become a major tool to facilitate agro-industrialization for small farmers through the diffusion of new technologies, the supply of high-quality agricultural inputs and the marketing of their products. This study compares FPC participants with vegetable-producing non-participants and grain farmers in vegetable-producing areas in rural China to investigate the treatment effect of participation in FPCs as well as implementation of vegetable cultivation. I adopt parametric and nonparametric approaches to precisely estimate the treatment effects. Estimated results indicate no significant difference between participants and non-participants of FPCs on agricultural net income in both parametric and non-parametric estimations. In contrast, the comparison between vegetable and grain farmers using propensity score matching (PSM) reveals that the treatment effect of vegetable cultivation is significantly positive for total and agricultural incomes, although vegetable cultivation involves more labor-intensive efforts. These results indicate that it is the implementation of vegetable cultivation rather than the participation in an FPC that enhances the economic welfare of farmers, due to the non-excludability of FPCs' services as well as the risks involved in vegetable cultivation.

Expansion of Asparagus Production and Exports in Peru

Peru is the one of the most important exporters of asparagus in the world. Its export volume of fresh asparagus is ranked number one, and its export volume of preserved asparagus number two, globally. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the recent trends in asparagus production and exports around the world and to analyze factors in the development of the Peruvian asparagus industry. The production of asparagus has spread geographically. The center of its production used to be in the principal consuming countries, such as France, Germany and the United States. Afterward, it spread to neighboring countries such as Spain and Mexico where production factors such as climate and labor costs are favorable. After the rise and fall of Taiwan as a major preserved white asparagus exporter, China and Peru replaced its position. Finally, in recent years, Peru expanded its fresh green asparagus exports to the U.S. market by taking advantage of the increasing demand for fresh vegetables and supplying produce in seasons when neither U.S. nor Mexican producers can harvest. In addition to the changing factors in the international market, there are several factors in the development of the industry: high yields of produce due to favorable climatic and soil conditions; the introduction of the drip irrigation system, which enabled desert cultivation; the integration of production and exports, which is indispensable for fresh produce exports; and the collective efforts of the industry with help from the public sector.

Transformation of the Rice Marketing System and Myanmar's Transition to a Market Economy

Creating a rice marketing system has been one of the central policy issues in Myanmar's move to a market economy since the end of the 1980s. Two liberalizations of rice marketing were implemented in 1987 and 2003. This paper examines the essential aspects of the liberalizations and the subsequent transformation of Myanmar's rice marketing sector. It attempts to bring into clearer focus the rationale of the government's rice marketing reforms which is to maintain a stable supply of rice at a low price to consumers. Under this rationale, however, the state rice marketing sector continued to lose efficiency while the private sector was allowed to develop on condition that it did not jeopardize the rationale of stable supply at low price. The paper concludes that the prospect for the future development of the private rice marketing sector is dim since a change in the rice market's rationale is unlikely. Private rice exporting is unlikely to be permitted, while the domestic market is approaching the saturation point. Thus, there is little momentum for the private rice sector to undertake any substantial expansion of investment.

The Sheepskin Marketing Channel in Ethiopia after Liberalization: The Survival Strategies of the Participants

Sheepskin market in Ethiopia seems to enjoy the benefits of the economic liberalization policy since 1991, such as price deregulation or liberalization of economic activities. The close observation on the profiles and activities of each actor in the marketing channel, however, illustrates that the actors have tried to complement the lack of appropriate infrastructure and legal protection, which should be provided by the government, through utilizing their social and blood ties. While these ties have implemented the role of the government, there are risks that the marketing channel might be developed based on coalition with social network and the poor without the network would be excluded.

NEW ROLE OF COOPERATIVES IN ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN COFFEE FARMERS COOPERATIVES

Since 1991, policies of economic liberalization in Ethiopia have been effective in releasing the economy from rigid state control. At the same time, they have also exposed Ethiopian people to domestic and international free market competition. In African countries, the retreat of governments from rural development due to economic liberalization policies has led to the re-evaluation of the role of cooperatives. Since 1999, in Ethiopia, several coffee farmers cooperative unions have been established to support peasants who are handicapped by their lack of negotiating power in the global economy. Coffee cooperatives have become market-oriented and are now relatively democratic compared to the former Marxist cooperatives of the previous regime. Thus far, these coffee cooperatives have provided higher profits to coffee farmers than have private traders. The actual volume of purchase, however, is limited　due to financial constraints. Because of this, the majority of cooperatives continues to rely on conventional marketing channels rather than on unions. Considering their weak financial condition, it is too early to judge the sustainability of the cooperatives because international prices have been high recently, and it is not yet clear how they would survive a downward international price trend.

Structural Changes in Asparagus Production and Exports from Peru

Asparagus is the star product among non-traditional agricultural exports (NTAXs) in Peru. The export of preserved asparagus has expanded since the end of the 1980s. Although there was some stagnation in the mid-1990s, exports of fresh asparagus have expanded rapidly since the end of the 1990s. Now, the export of both preserved and fresh asparagus constitute the second most important agricultural export in Peru after coffee. Besides the change in demand on the international market, the important factor behind the shift from preserved to fresh asparagus is the change in the supply structure of asparagus. In the case of preserved asparagus, Peruvian exports expanded because of Peru’s competitiveness, which originated from favorable production factors, such as climate, soil and labor. However, because of the growing presence of Chinese products on the international market, Peru’s products lost their competitiveness. In the case of fresh asparagus, the investment of agricultural corporations in production and their innovation in integrating different economic processes from the point of production to the time of export built a successful supply structure that is suited for the export of fresh agricultural produce.

Coping and adaptation against decreasing fish resources : case study of fishermen in Lake Inle, Myanmar

Fishermen depend on Lake Inle in Myanmar for their livelihood. However, the lake has been undergoing environmental degradation over the years. Adding to the long-term decrease in the catch because of this degradation, these fishermen faced extremely low water levels in 2010, which they had previously not experienced. Based on field surveys, this paper aims to reveal how fishermen adapted and coped with the changing environment as well as the sudden shock of the abnormally low water levels.

Food safety control system of Chinese eel exports and its challenges

This paper analyzes factors associated with the rejection of products at ports of importer countries and remedial actions taken by producers in China. As an example, it uses one of the most competitive agro-food products of China: live and processed eels. This paper provides an overview of eel production and trade trends in China. In addition, it identifies the causes of port rejection of Chinese eel products as veterinary drug residues by examining the detailed case studies of export firms and the countermeasures taken by the government and firms.