Myanmar's Long Road to National Reconciliation by Trevor Wilson Page B
Authors: Trevor Wilson
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urban drift.
In a recent Human Development Report (HDR) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 1 Myanmar ranked 131st out of 175 countries in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is the average value of three other indices: Life Expectancy Index (LEI), Education Index (EI,) and GDP (gross domestic product) Index (GDPI). Myanmar’s LEI, EI and GDPI indices are 0.53, 0.72 and 0.39 respectively, resulting in HDI of 0.549. By comparison the HDI for Australia was 0.939 and for Luxembourg 1.0.
Based on GDP Index alone, Myanmar falls into the “least developed countries” category but on the Education Index measurement, it falls into the “developing countries” category. The final HDI for Myanmar sits between Low Human Development (0.440) and Medium Human Development (0.684) category.
The economic growth of a country not only improves human development; it also creates opportunities for widening people’s choices. For an agricultural country like Myanmar, development strategy will obviously have to focus on agriculture. Agricultural development and a rise in agricultural productivity can be achieved through agricultural education, research, and extension, but above all, funding and investment from local and international sources are needed.
About 75 per cent of the total population resides in rural areas and is principally engaged in the agriculture, livestock, and fishery sectors for their livelihood. 2 In order, therefore, to improve the HDI for Myanmar, improvements in the rural HDI, which reflect rural health, rural education, and rural economy, will be required.
The key players for achieving this are the government, the opposition, ethnic groups, urban and rural people, agricultural entrepreneurs, international investment companies, and aid organizations. For more than fifteen years Myanmar has not received significant assistance from the international donor community for the agriculture sector. Lack of such investment has been the main weak point in rural economic development.
Myanmar is a country of 676,578 square kilometres (measuring approximately 925 km from east to west, and 2,090 km from north to south) and is located between 92°10’ and 101°11’E longitude, and between 9°32’ and 28°31’N latitude. The population is 52.4 million (2003) with an annual growth rate of 1.84 per cent. 3
The agriculture sector contributes 45.1 per cent of GDP, 18 per cent of total export earnings, and employs 63 per cent of the labour force. As mentioned above, three-quarters of the total population resides in rural areas and is principally engaged in agriculture. In 2001–02, 15.8 million hectares was utilized for various crops; the reserve forest covered 13.9 million hectares, with 19 million hectares of other forest area. 4
Rice is the staple food of Myanmar and the sown area in 2002–03 was 6.48 million hectares, with an average yield of 3.42 tonnes per hectare. Myanmar usually produces over twenty million tonnes of rice per year, and is the seventh-largest producer of rice in the world. It also has the highest rice consumption of any country in the world, at 211 kilograms (kg) per head per year. 5 Rice consumption for Thailand and Vietnam are 101 kg per head per year and 170 kg per head per year respectively, indicating a reduction in the consumption of rice due to the availability of alternative staple foods. Reduced rice consumption is also an indication of the level of economic growth of a nation.
Myanmar is rich in water resources. Annual rainfall ranges from 750 mm in the alluvial lowlands of the central region to 1,500 mm in the eastern and western mountains and to 4,000–5,000 mm in the coastal region. Only 6 per cent of the total surface water resources of 1,081 cubic kilometres per annum are being utilized at present. The total ground water potential is approximately 500 cubic kilometres per annum. Three parallel chains of forested mountain ranges run from north to south
In a recent Human Development Report (HDR) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 1 Myanmar ranked 131st out of 175 countries in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is the average value of three other indices: Life Expectancy Index (LEI), Education Index (EI,) and GDP (gross domestic product) Index (GDPI). Myanmar’s LEI, EI and GDPI indices are 0.53, 0.72 and 0.39 respectively, resulting in HDI of 0.549. By comparison the HDI for Australia was 0.939 and for Luxembourg 1.0.
Based on GDP Index alone, Myanmar falls into the “least developed countries” category but on the Education Index measurement, it falls into the “developing countries” category. The final HDI for Myanmar sits between Low Human Development (0.440) and Medium Human Development (0.684) category.
The economic growth of a country not only improves human development; it also creates opportunities for widening people’s choices. For an agricultural country like Myanmar, development strategy will obviously have to focus on agriculture. Agricultural development and a rise in agricultural productivity can be achieved through agricultural education, research, and extension, but above all, funding and investment from local and international sources are needed.
About 75 per cent of the total population resides in rural areas and is principally engaged in the agriculture, livestock, and fishery sectors for their livelihood. 2 In order, therefore, to improve the HDI for Myanmar, improvements in the rural HDI, which reflect rural health, rural education, and rural economy, will be required.
The key players for achieving this are the government, the opposition, ethnic groups, urban and rural people, agricultural entrepreneurs, international investment companies, and aid organizations. For more than fifteen years Myanmar has not received significant assistance from the international donor community for the agriculture sector. Lack of such investment has been the main weak point in rural economic development.
Myanmar is a country of 676,578 square kilometres (measuring approximately 925 km from east to west, and 2,090 km from north to south) and is located between 92°10’ and 101°11’E longitude, and between 9°32’ and 28°31’N latitude. The population is 52.4 million (2003) with an annual growth rate of 1.84 per cent. 3
The agriculture sector contributes 45.1 per cent of GDP, 18 per cent of total export earnings, and employs 63 per cent of the labour force. As mentioned above, three-quarters of the total population resides in rural areas and is principally engaged in agriculture. In 2001–02, 15.8 million hectares was utilized for various crops; the reserve forest covered 13.9 million hectares, with 19 million hectares of other forest area. 4
Rice is the staple food of Myanmar and the sown area in 2002–03 was 6.48 million hectares, with an average yield of 3.42 tonnes per hectare. Myanmar usually produces over twenty million tonnes of rice per year, and is the seventh-largest producer of rice in the world. It also has the highest rice consumption of any country in the world, at 211 kilograms (kg) per head per year. 5 Rice consumption for Thailand and Vietnam are 101 kg per head per year and 170 kg per head per year respectively, indicating a reduction in the consumption of rice due to the availability of alternative staple foods. Reduced rice consumption is also an indication of the level of economic growth of a nation.
Myanmar is rich in water resources. Annual rainfall ranges from 750 mm in the alluvial lowlands of the central region to 1,500 mm in the eastern and western mountains and to 4,000–5,000 mm in the coastal region. Only 6 per cent of the total surface water resources of 1,081 cubic kilometres per annum are being utilized at present. The total ground water potential is approximately 500 cubic kilometres per annum. Three parallel chains of forested mountain ranges run from north to south
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