That's MAD!

A few weeks ago, ACIAR’s Canberra office played host to a number of partners from Indonesia and Burma (Myanmar) to participate and provide feedback in the Mobile Acquired Data (MAD) small research activity (SRA) we are engaged in.

Source: agricultures network

Managing soil and water in Burma's Central Dry Zone

ACIAR Graduate Research Officer, Jack Koci, recently travelled to Burma to understand research opportunities to improve land and water resource management in the Central Dry Zone (CDZ)...

A small scoping team from ACIAR recently met with stakeholders in Burma to determine priorities for improving agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the CDZ. Research into sustainable land and water resources management was identified as a high priority.  

Onion farmers preparing for harvest

Burma is one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia and has among the lowest social development indicators in the region, ranking 149 out of 187 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index.  The CDZ, located in the middle part of Burma, has some of the highest levels of poverty and food insecurity in the country.

IN THE FIELD – Myanmar in a new era

(in-country visits by ACIAR’s research managers)

The children we met were not shy from the camera.
Gyoke Pin Village in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar.
Photo by Jenny Hanks

In June, ACIAR’s ­ Principal Regional Coordinator for Mekong countries and China, Dr Gamini Keerthsinghe, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implement a research project in a country ACIAR has been working with for over a decade. The smallholder farmers and rural poor are set to benefit from opportunities for the Australian Government to work at a greater level of cooperation with the Government of Myanmar, which is undergoing a period of ambitious reform that is unprecedented in its recent history...