OFF-FARM EMPLOYMENT AND THE TRANSFORMING RURAL NON-FARM ECONOMY AROUND YANGON

Aung Htun

No 291870, FSP Myanmar Research Highlights from Michigan State University Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP)

Abstract: This research highlight presents findings from the Myanmar Aquaculture Agriculture Survey 2016 (MAAS)1 on the characteristics of off-farm employment and the rural non-farm economy in four townships close to the city of Yangon. Two groups of village tract were selected to facilitate comparison of the impacts of aquaculture and agriculture on the rural economy: an ‘aquaculture cluster’, located in areas with high densities of fish farms, and an ‘agriculture cluster’ located in areas nearby where cultivation of paddy and pulses was the main form of agricultural production. This research highlight focusses on the characteristics of off-farm employment in the two clusters. Off-farm employment is defined here as all the remunerative work that individuals perform away from their own farms. In the following analysis we distinguish between four main categories of off-farm employment: casual labor, long-term salaried employment, self-employment in non-farm enterprises (e.g., petty trade, transport services, handicrafts production), and self-employment in natural resource extraction (e.g., collecting firewood, fishing). Casual labor can be further subdivided into agricultural labor (e.g., harvesting paddy), and non-farm labor (e.g., basic construction work). Salaried employment can likewise be divided into agricultural (e.g., guarding fish ponds) and non-farm (e.g., school teaching). In keeping with the comparative approach adopted by MAAS, this brief focusses on the characteristics of off-farm employment in agriculture and aquaculture clusters, and on gendered differences in employment opportunities and wage rates. It also presents evidence of transformation in the rural non-farm economy in both clusters

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 6
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:fspmrh:291870

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.291870

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