Myanmar : Rice Price Reduction and Poverty Reduction
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Washington, DC
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Myanmar is a low-income agrarian country
with a high poverty rate. The livelihood of many poor people
depends on the performance of agriculture, especially the
rice sector. Rice accounts for 70 percent of Myanmar s total
cultivated area and 30 percent of the value of its
agricultural production. Increasing returns to rice
production will be the key to increasing farm wages and
incomes in the short to medium run. Higher rice production
will also help maintain low food prices, improve food
security, and reduce poverty, as an average household spends
61 percent of total household income on food, and rice is a
major component of the food basket. Price fluctuations are a
common feature of well-functioning agricultural markets.
Price fluctuation should be expected in such markets, since
output varies from period to period due to factors such as
weather, pests and disease, and because demand and supply
are inelastic in the short run. Moreover, some amount of
seasonal and spatial price movements should be tolerated,
since these usefully signal scarcity in the market and
facilitate a supply response, foster arbitrage between
surplus and deficit regions, as well as guide post-harvest
handling, storage and trade decisions. However, in the case
of Myanmar s rice market, several factors serve to
exacerbate price fluctuation and make them more pronounced
and unpredictable (volatile) and lead to serious negative
impacts for consumers and farmers. Rice price volatility is
of concern to the Myanmar government given the high
importance of rice for farm incomes and consumer
expenditures, and thereby for food security and poverty
reduction. On the production side, prices volatility
inhibits farmers supply response and is a disincentive for
greater use of purchased inputs and increased investments.
Volatility can also discourage rice-producing farmers to
diversify their cropping patterns to high-value crops if
they cannot buy cereals for consumption at more predictable
prices. On the consumption side, rice price spikes can cause
increased food insecurity for those not wealthy enough to
maintain consumption levels at the higher prices. For people
spending 50 percent of their income on rice, a 20 percent
temporary increase in rice prices would lead to an
approximate 10 percent decline in effective income. This is
a large shock, often equivalent to households spending on
health and education.
Palabras clave
ACREAGE, AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, AGRICULTURAL GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL LAND, AGRICULTURAL MARKETS, AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT, AGRICULTURAL POLICY, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION, AGRICULTURE SECTOR, ARBITRAGE, AVERAGE PRICE, AVERAGE PRICES, BROKEN RICE, CEREAL PRICES, CHANGES IN PRICES, COMMERCE, COMMODITIES, COMMODITY, COMPETITIVE PRICES, COMPETITIVENESS, CONNECTIVITY, CONSUMER PRICE, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE, COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER, CROPS, DEFICIT REGIONS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DOMESTIC MARKET, DOMESTIC MARKETS, DOMESTIC PRICE, DOMESTIC PRICES, DOMESTIC PRODUCTION, ECONOMIC BENEFITS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION, EXPENDITURE, EXPENDITURES, EXPORT, EXPORT PROMOTION, EXPORT TRADE, EXPORTS, EXPOSURE, FAIR, FARM, FARM INCOMES, FARM PRICES, FARMERS, FIXED PRICE, FOOD EXPENDITURES, FOOD PRICE, FOOD PRICES, FOOD SAFETY, FOOD SECURITY, FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS, FOREIGN MARKETS, FUTURE PRICE, GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSIFICATION, GLOBAL MARKETS, GRAIN, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES, HOUSEHOLDS, IMPORT TARIFF, IMPORT TARIFFS, IMPORTS, INCOME, INCOMES, INFORMATION SYSTEM, INTEREST RATES, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, JOB CREATION, LOCAL CURRENCY, LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, LOW-INCOME COUNTRY, LOWER COSTS, LOWER PRICE, LOWER PRICES, MAIN PRODUCING, MARKET INFORMATION, MARKET INTEGRATION, MARKET PARTICIPANTS, MARKET PRICE, MARKET PRICES, MARKET SEGMENTATION, MARKET SITUATION, MARKET TRANSPARENCY, MARKET VOLATILITY, MARKETING, MARKETING SYSTEMS, MARKETPLACE, MILLING, MILLING INDUSTRY, MILLS, MINIMUM PRICES, MOBILE PHONE, MONETARY FUND, MONOPOLIES, MONOPOLY, NATIONAL ACCOUNTS, NEW MARKET, NEW MARKET OPPORTUNITIES, OUTPUT, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PHONE NETWORK, PHYSICAL ACCESS, POLITICAL STABILITY, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, PRICE ADJUSTMENTS, PRICE CHANGES, PRICE COMPARISONS, PRICE CONTROLS, PRICE DISTORTIONS, PRICE FLUCTUATION, PRICE FLUCTUATIONS, PRICE INCREASE, PRICE INCREASES, PRICE LEVEL, PRICE LEVELS, PRICE MECHANISMS, PRICE MOVEMENTS, PRICE SPREAD, PRICE STABILITY, PRICE STABILIZATION, PRICE SUPPORT, PRICE UNCERTAINTY, PRICE VOLATILITY, PRIVATE INVESTMENT, PRIVATE STORAGE, PRODUCT QUALITY, PROTEINS, PUBLIC FINANCE, PURCHASING, PURCHASING POWER, RELATIVE PRICE, REPUTATION, RETAIL, RETAIL PRICES, RICE PRICES, RISING PRICE, RURAL AREAS, RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE, SAFETY NET, SAFETY NETS, SALE, SEASONAL FACTORS, SECURITY CONCERNS, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS, SPREAD, STOCK MANAGEMENT, STOCKS, STORAGE CAPACITY, STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS, SUBSTITUTES, SUPPLIERS, SUPPLY SIDE, SURPLUS, TARIFF BARRIERS, TARIFF RATE, TAX, TAX RATE, TOTAL CONSUMPTION, TRADING SYSTEM, VITAMINS, VOLUME, WAREHOUSE, WHOLESALE PRICE, WHOLESALE PRICES, WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, WORLD MARKET, WORLD MARKET PRICE, WORLD MARKET PRICES, WORLD MARKETS, WORLD PRICE, WORLD RICE