Livelihoods, poverty, and food insecurity in Myanmar: Survey evidence from June 2020 to September 2021

Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA)

Dec 2021 · Myanmar SSP Research Note Book 71 · Intl Food Policy Res Inst

About this ebook

Key Findings

Nine rounds of the Rural-Urban Food Security Survey (RUFSS) have been conducted between June 2020 and September 2021 to assess the impacts of Myanmar’s economic, political, and health crises on various dimensions of household welfare. RUFSS interviews about 2000 mothers of young children per round from urban Yangon, the rural Dry Zone, and recent migrants from these areas.

Key Findings

▪ Myanmar has experienced four distinct economic shocks since early 2020. The most recent of these shocks–the spread of the Delta variant–was devastating, with 63 percent of respondents stating that at least one household member had experienced COVID-like symptoms and almost all cases occurring in the May-September 2021 third wave.

▪ 16 percent of interviewed households moved townships between their first interview and September 2021. Around two-thirds of these were from the Yangon sample.

▪ Physical insecurity has emerged as a key impact of political instability, with 53 percent of responde