21
2018
On the 20th of November 2018, MIID hosted a conference at Novotel in Yangon about Agriculture Extension in the Uplands in Myanmar. The conference is a part of MIID’s ongoing project in partnership with Cornell University and with financial support by the Livelihood and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT): “Securing Positive Nutritional Outcome through Agriculture Extension, Nutritional Education and Institution Building in Rural Chin State.”
The conference was centered around the Myanmar uplands based on their unique needs. Farmers in the uplands are struggling with factors such as Isolation, Poverty, Poor nutrition and limited access to governments services such as agricultural extension. “The farmer’s capacity, willingness to invest in new crops and to test new methodologies in the uplands needs to be even more supported than farmers in the lowland, supporting the people in the hilly areas in the most sustainable and best way is through professional extension services,” said Joern Kristensen, MIID Executive Director. Conference participants suggested that by including specific lessons on upland agriculture and nutrition in Yezin Agricultural University and State Agricultural Institutes (SAI)’s curriculum, the students can be introduced to techniques and methodologies that will improve the conditions for farmers in the uplands.
The conference included participants and speakers both from Government, Academia and the NGO-sector. 5 agriculture students from Yezin Agriculture University Research Team presented their findings from research they have done at the MIID project in Chin State. The conference concluded with a panel discussion between agricultural specialists from government, NGOs and international donors with experience from upland agriculture.