In Good Times and in Bad, in Sickness and in Health

The Continuous Rise in Adoption of Labour-Saving Agricultural Technologies in Myanmar

Bibliographic Data

ID7171004
AuthorsBart Minten (0000-0002-2183-1845, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., WA, USA), Joseph Goeb (0000-0003-2895-2006, Michigan State University), Joanna Van Asselt (0000-0002-0090-6166, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., WA, USA, corresponding author), Zin Wai Aung (0000-0001-5600-7461, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., WA, USA)
Year2025
Volume61
Issue1
Pages81-101
Publication date2025-01-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Development Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0388 • E-ISSN: 1743-9140
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00220388.2024.2401407
OpenAlexW4402748911
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited43

Agriculture is rapidly transforming in many low- and middle-income countries – most often driven by the adoption of new agricultural technologies – but changes remain poorly understood in fragile and conflict-affected states. We look at the case of Myanmar, a prime example of such a state. After decades of isolationism and economic stagnation, it opened its economy in the beginning of the 2010s, leading to rapid economic growth. But the COVID-19 health crisis and a military coup in the beginning of 2021 – leading to heightened conflicts, forced displacements, and increased migration – dramatically reversed that outlook. Based on large-scale farm surveys, we find that adoption of labour-saving agricultural technologies – measured by the use of mechanization, herbicides, and direct seeding of rice – increased rapidly over the economic growth period and that the increase surprisingly persisted during the crisis years, but at a slower rate. This uptake was lower, however, for households in the most conflict-affected areas, partly due to differential agricultural input availability. Smallholders and more remote farmers also participated less. This finding suggests an increasing labour productivity gap for remote and conflict-affected smallholders, with important implications for their welfare

Agricultural economics · Agricultural machinery · Agriculture · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Farm workers · Geography · Labour economics · Socioeconomics · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Cambodian History and Society

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Open DOI