Today, the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry (U Tun Tun Naing, Permanent Secretary) handed over the signed Financing Agreement to The EU (Johann Hesse, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.) to support agriculture and nutrition in Myanmar.



The EU and the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry signed a Financing Agreement to support agriculture and nutrition in Myanmar.

In time period of 2020 -2025, the EU will invest EUR 112 million [180 billion MMK] to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation through the  "Enhancing Rural Nutrition in Myanmar: Support to the National Agriculture Development Strategy and its contribution to the Multi-Sectoral National Plan of Action for Nutrition" programme

In spite of strong economic growth and poverty reduction over the past decade, Myanmar continues to suffer from a high prevalence of maternal and child undernutrition. In this context, the Myanmar government endorsed a Multi-sectoral National Action Plan on Nutrition (MS-NPAN) in 2018, led by the Ministry of Health and Sports with other three ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) as the entity responsible for implementing nutrition-sensitive activities in accordance with the Myanmar Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) and its contribution to the MS-NPAN for the period 2018/19 to 2022/23.

The Financing agreement for the new EU Nutrition Sector Reform Contract (NSRC) will assist the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) to contribute to achieve the Government's commitment to reduce all forms of malnutrition in Myanmar through implementation of nutrition-sensitive activities under the ADS.

The new EU programme will focus on the most vulnerable farmers and rural population affected by undernutrition, including pregnant/lactating mothers, children and adolescent girls, through targeted interventions aiming at improving rural incomes, diversification of food production, access to safe water and food safety.

The programme will assist a number of MoALI Departments improve service delivery capacities in selected areas with the highest impact on nutrition such as increasing access to improved seed varieties for horticulture, pulses and fruits, better animal health and breeding services, as well as increased access to safe drinking water and farm land for the most vulnerable.

Implemented under the budget support modality, this new EU programme will deliver a package of EUR 70 million for direct implementation of nutrition-sensitive interventions by MoALI in Ayeyarwaddy region and Shan state, and a complementary package of EUR 42 million for the provision of technical assistance to MoALI in areas of institutional and research capacities, development of pro-poor agricultural value chains and other direct assistance providing nutrition and social safety net support in conflict and COVID-19 affected areas.

This committment is the continuation of a longstanding EU engagement in agriculture and nutrition in Myanmar, with approx EUR 120 million invested since 2015.