Food Insecurity for Young People in Myanmar

Hpung Awng

INTRODUCTION

The development of the world has brought many changes and differences in compared with the

days of our ancient ancestors. The developments in science and technology have made the world to be a

global village. People in this era of globalization could solve many problems which our ancestors could not.

But food insecurity is still a global challenge, affecting people in both developed and developing countries.

Myanmar as a poor developing country is still under the threat of food insecurity. The incident of Covid-19

pandemic and military coup worsen the situation in Myanmar.

Myanmar is blessed with various natural resources and geographical advantages. Amid such

opportunities and advantages, the country is still in poverty due to the social system and other factors.

Myanmar still depends on traditional agricultural economy. Myanmar Government still emphasize on

economic development through the export of foods. Most of our exports are agricultural raw products. As

the demands of neighboring countries, Myanmar farmers are pushed for plantation of cash crops instead of

indigenous crops. As the result, the local people have to depend on foreign market for both import of

consumer products and export of agricultural products. Many individuals and families still are not affording

for adequate and nutritious food. Many people are still struggling with the challenges of hunger and

malnutrition. The economic system meant for prosperity and wellbeing of Myanmar people has created

more nutritionally detrimental to local populations.

Rationale and significance

Investigating the situation of food insecurity is one area to consider in knowing about the life

experiences and possible solutions for Myanmar people who are living under the threat of food insecurity.

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The findings can alert the local people for the threat of food insecurity as the result of collective interest in

plantation of cash crops. The findings can foster the policies makers from the community and ministry of

agriculture and economic affairs to come up with strategic or master plans to deal with the threat of food

insecurity. The findings can also alert the non-government organizations to propose more on skills

development projects for farmers as a mean of equipping them with the knowledge and skills that are

needed for modern agriculture farming. Finally, this research can be foundation reference for future studies.

Literature review

Generally, the problem of food insecurity is usually associated with the economic system of the

community or country. This factor determines the import and export products of the country. The market

imbalance between the demand and supply of consumer products usually leads to food insecurity. Many

scholars also agreed that economic development through the export of food has more often been

ecologically as well as nutritionally detrimental to local populations (Ann McElroy, 2025). The economic

situation is undoubtedly one of the factors influencing the rise of food insecurity.

Some studies also showed that political institutions are vital factors that explained the observed

disparities in malnutrition between different countries. They highlighted that the dynamics of political

obligation toward development and nutrition, mentioning that decisions related to food allocation will be

political. From the perspective of the nutrition sector, good governance is shown by governments

committed to implementing different policies, allocating sufficient resources toward the sector, and

developing tools for grantees whose benefits reach most of the population, preferably the most vulnerable.

Likewise, good governance seeks to maintain sustainable nutrition programs (Awad, 2023).

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Research gap

Although some studies have examined about food insecurity in Myanmar, their studies dealt with it

in macro level as nationwide studies and some of them are from the perspective of outsiders. Therefore,

this study will discover the subjective experiences and perspectives on food insecurity of the people living

in the boarder site with China.

Research problems

This study aims to explore the phenomena of food insecurity of the people living in the boarder site

with China; to better understand their situation despite working in agricultural farming. This will answer the

following questions: Why the local people still have the problem of food insecurity even though they are

working in agricultural farming? What are the individual or collective actions of local people to overcome the

problem of food insecurity?

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This research is a qualitative in its methodologies. Autoethnography design will be utilized to gain

contextual and in-dept knowledge about the phenomena of food insecurity of young people from Myanmar.

Using my own experience as a young man who has lifelong experience of struggling with food insecurity, I

will be able to connect my own personal experiences to dissect and analyze the experiences and

perspectives shared by other research participants. This will also include making researcher as a reference

in the context of this study. Hence, my personal experience as an author will also serve as the main source

of data. It also means the examining my own experiences and experiences of other identified participants.

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The emic approach will be utilized to obtain the participants’ subjective experiences, beliefs and

perspectives on food insecurity.

Research Setting

This study will be conducted on the young people from Muse city which is located at border site

with China, within Shan State of Myanmar. But this study will only focus on the life experiences of some

students who came from that place but currently living in Dumaguete city of Philippine.

Study participants and Sampling

For this study, the participants will be taken from Myanmar students who came from the border site

with China, but currently living in Dumaguete city, Philippine. Those people from the border site with China

have more geographical opportunities as well as more challenges in term of food insecurity. For the better

account of the study, convenience and purposive sampling will be utilized. Both male and female

participants between the age of 21-36 will be approached for this study. The sample size for this study will

be determined according to occurrence of the data saturation.

Research tool and data gathering procedure

As this study is qualitative research with autoethnography design, the researcher will use face-to-

face interview to obtain the primary data from the participants. The researcher will send guide questions to

the participants prior to the actual interview with them. The guide questions will be semi-structured and

open-ended which allowed more freedom and flexibility to participants. Based on the given answers, follow-

up or probing questions will be posed to the participants for deeper or in-dept answers. I will also share my

personal experience in the process of interview with the research participants. The interview will also be in

the form of narrative conversation. Although the questionnaires are in English, Kachin language will be

utilized for face-to-face interview.

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 At first, the investigator will make contacts and inform participants about the study and its

objectives. After getting their consents, the investigator will send questionaries and arrange the

appointment for the interview according to the convenience of the participants. During the interview, note

taking and the audio recording will be made with the permission of the participants. All the transcriptions

and recorded audio (data) will be saved and secured properly. All the gathered data will be deleted once I

have finished the study. Through the use of in-dept interview, deeper understanding and knowledge about

the food insecurity will be gathered from our shared experiences.

Data Analysis

Since this is a qualitative study, it will begin with transcribing and typing the interview records. At

this stage, data reduction process will be done to ensure that only important data related with the research

problem of this study are treated. Through coding, many themes and common meanings will be highlighted

and extracted. The investigator will look for certain themes and process by grouping or categorizing them

into specific groups. The categorized themes will also be review to ensure accurate representations of the

data. Finally, the reviewed themes will be defined and named for acuate meanings and easily

understandable names.

Ethical Consideration

The study will be conducted as the ethical standards mentioned below. The researcher will explain

the purpose and benefits of the study to the participants and obtain their consent before the data collection.

The participants will be free to pot in or out of the study at any point in time. Personally identifiable data will

not be asked and collected throughout the data collection in any forms. Collected data will be securely

stored to avoid any potential harm for the participants. The findings of the study will be accurately

presented and used. Other ethical standards will be followed to protect the participants’ welfare and rights.

The used transcripts will be securely saved for a certain length of time and destroyed/disposed of either

through burning or shedding them in a manner that leaves no possibility for reconstruction of information

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Defective Agricultural Economy

Since Myanmar is still a developing country being left behind in technological and industrial

development, Myanmar have to depend on China for its agricultural economy. Myanmar and China are

geographical connected neighboring countries with good relationship for long history. China is the largest

trading partner of Myanmar, and the agricultural products is one of the main foreign exchange products that

Myanmar exports to China, and China has been actively carrying out trade measures to promote

agricultural economic cooperation (Mao et al., 2021).

Myanmar is importing many kinds of genetically modified seeds, agricultural machineries and tools,

chemical fertilizer and insecticide from China. In return, our raw agricultural products are exported to China.

These modified crops are more productive and bring more benefits to the farmers. The use of fertilizer and

insecticide reduce work force and financial investment. But these modified crops are one-time use only that

it cannot be replanted again in the following years. Therefore, Myanmar has been planting China-made

genetically modified crops such as rice, corn and others crops for decades.

For every year, farmers have to buy modified crops along with chemical fertilizer and pesticide from

China. After harvesting, those crops would to be exported back to China. China food companies will

process those raw products into cheap food products and sent them back again to many poor countries

including Myanmar. But when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, the flow of agricultural economy between

Myanmar and China was cut off completely. During that pandemic period, Myanmar could not access those

initial modified crops, fertilizers, pesticides and food products from China. As the result, thousands of

hectares of rice and corn field were left without any plantation. That meant no incomes for many families.

On the other hand, the price of the commodities rose as the result of shortage of food supplies from China.

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So, families with no income have to struggle with the high price of commodities. In general, this

phenomenon led to decrease in agricultural productions and increase the scarcity of foods in Myanmar.

Plantation of Cash Crops

As agricultural economy is the main economy of Myanmar, many farmers (especially from

borderland) are more tempted for plantation of cash crop such as sugar cane, corn, watermelon and others.

Myanmar was one of the top sugar-producing countries in the Southeast Asian region. Plantation of sugar

contributed the economy of the country and created job opportunities in rural areas. More than half of total

sugar cane used to be exported to China for manufactural process and marketing. Plantation of sugar

cane reached its peak in 2019 prior to Covid-19 pandemic. Because of this pandemic, China-Myanmar

cross-border agricultural economic cooperation was inactivated. All the boarder ports between China and

Myanmar were closed during the pandemic. It resulted the lost for many sugar cane farmers that they could

not sell their sugar cane either in the country or to China. Tons of sugar cane were either thrown away or

burnt.

Since there are only few sugar industries in the country, they could not cope with the all the sugar

cane produced within the country. The government also could not manage to solve the problem; the

government could not find international market to export those sugar cane. Such conversion of land from

rice field to sugar cane field (cash crops) worsen the threat of food insecurity for local people. Many families

with sugar cane farms neither have rice for daily food nor money to buy it. In addition, mobility restriction

during the pandemic and political unrest was hinder for job opportunities for them. The same stories go with

the families with other cash crops such as corn and banana. But as a positive side, these phenomena

drove many farmers back to the plantation of rice and other local crops instead of cash crops.

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Fast Foods and Health Issues

As a strategy now common to many foods production companies, Chinese companies produce

various cheap food products for consumers at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Myanmar, as a poor

country, is importing several kinds of cheap food products from China. The local demand of foods

outweighs the safety concerns of food products imported from China. Inspections for toxic, chemical,

bacterial and pesticide contamination were not fully employed because of widespread distribution and

corruption of bribery. Geographical connection opens ways for the flow of such food products in both legal

and illegal ways. It also loosens the full control of importing such food products.

Poverty and lack of food industries in the country have become the pulling factors for high

demands of importing cheap food products. This incident affects all age groups including children, young

people, adult and the old. People from poverty line and lower classes do not have alternative options to

avoid such unhealthy foods.

Young people especially students are most vulnerable to these cheap foods. Almost all poor

hostellers consume instant noodle for their hunger. An interviewee said that the garbage cans from girl

hostels were always full of plastic of readymade foods from grocery. It seemed like they were not afraid of

the consequences that they continued eating those foods constantly. The interviewee further mentioned

that since the girl hosteler were still young and energetic, they did not have serious health problems at that

moment, but they might suffer later in life.

Foods production companies from China are not only getting young age customers but also huge

numbers of adult customers from Myanmar. The modern lifestyle is encouraging families to become

consumers of those fast foods. In Myanmar, huge number of housewives from Myanmar-China borderland

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areas usually fill their refrigerators with China-made fast foods such as hot dog, sausage, juice, seafoods

and others. These foods are easy to access with low price at local grocery stores. They are fuel for various

health issues such as weight gain and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. Because of

more health deterioration, medical enterprise has become more successful business. The rising number of

hospitals and clinics goes hand in hand with the increasing volume of import fast foods from China. But

fortunately, those food products are not imported in huge amount since Covid-19 pandemic and political

unrest in 2021. In other mean, Myanmar people are more protected form such harmful food products.

Political Instability

Myanmar is the country which has longest civil war in South East Asia. Dictatorship and political

instability played vital role for food insecurity in Myanmar. Government could not well manage the allocation

of food and supplies for the people. Some places are over filled with one particular crop while other place

are in need of it. Government is exporting agricultural crops while many local people are starving for foods.

While many civilians are getting poorer, political leaders are getting richer.

Civil war also serves as a factor for food insecurity in Myanmar. Within this three-year (after the

military coup), more than (85,000) houses were burnt. Food storages in the war zone used to be burnt or

destroyed. An interviewee explained that about (50) sacks of rice were burnt along with their house during

the civil war. Many people were displaced and that they could not harvest their crops. Many paddy fields

were also left into barren. Political instability is undeniable a key factor for the rise of food insecurity in

Myanmar.

Response From the Community

Community leaders such as village heads, church ministers and social workers from Non-

government Organizations have put much efforts to make people realize the threat of food insecurity. With

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the cooperation of the community and village leaders, various kinds of social awareness activities and

training were introduced to local people. Much of efforts have been put for shifting back to local crops in

their agricultural farming.

Many farmers have turned back to plantation of local crops due to the realization of the possible

shortage of food for daily lives and the unavailable of cash crops at the local market. Although local crops

and fertilizers are not compatible to imported crops and fertilizers in term of production and income

generating, farmers do not have other options. An interviewee said that farmers are facing new challenges

since they have been strange with plantation of local crops (without chemical fertilizers and insecticides).

Since all the border posts between Myanmar and China were closed, the food products imported from

China have been disappeared day by day. People also became more aware of the health problems caused

by those imported food products.

Conclusion

Agricultural economy of Myanmar makes China gain the most benefits on the expense of the

decline living condition of people from Myanmar. Lacking full control over the flow of import and export

between Myanmar and China also extends the suffering of the poor Myanmar people. This phenomenon

causes nutritional transition and fuel the various health problems as in other poor nations. Food insecurity

and obesity are common features in suburban from borderland areas.

The importing of various genetically modified crops causes extinction of local crops and food

insecurity. Local farmers were rationally forced for plantation of imported cash crops over local crops. The

import of chemical insecticides and fertilizers also led to even more toxic exposure and health problems of

the local people. The imported cheap food products also extended the negative consequences on local

people. In short, people from all ages; children, young, adult and old from border site with China were

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experiencing food insecurity and health problems more than others from Myanmar. But the incidents of

Covid pandemic and political unrest have reduced our dependency on China. This means the positive turn

to our local crops and local healthy foods. But the problem of food insecurity is not fully solved. As the

forecast statement made by United Nation, more than half of Myanmar population will still be struggling with

food insecurity in the following year of 2024.

REFENENCES

Ann McElroy and Patricia K. Townsend. (2015). Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective.
Westview Press.
Awad, A. (2023). The determinants of food insecurity among developing countries: Are there any
differences? Scientific African, 19, e01512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01512
Lune, H., & Berg, B. L. (2017). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Pearson.
Mao, P., Yan, Z., Feng, L., & Pau Sian Kam. (2021). China-Myanmar Cross-border Agricultural Economic
Cooperation — Views from Myanmar. Advances in Economics, Business and Management
Research. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.210803.074

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