Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar

COVID-19-related trade disruptions hit several sectors in Myanmar as early as January 2020, but it was the appearance of the country’s first cases in March 2020 and the subsequent lockdown in April that really hurt the economy. Nonessential businesses shut down, workers and traders could not leave h...

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Main Authors: Headey, Derek D., Cho, Ame, Mahrt, Kristi, Diao, Xinshen, Lambrecht, Isabel B.
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141419
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author Headey, Derek D.
Cho, Ame
Mahrt, Kristi
Diao, Xinshen
Lambrecht, Isabel B.
author_browse Cho, Ame
Diao, Xinshen
Headey, Derek D.
Lambrecht, Isabel B.
Mahrt, Kristi
author_facet Headey, Derek D.
Cho, Ame
Mahrt, Kristi
Diao, Xinshen
Lambrecht, Isabel B.
author_sort Headey, Derek D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description COVID-19-related trade disruptions hit several sectors in Myanmar as early as January 2020, but it was the appearance of the country’s first cases in March 2020 and the subsequent lockdown in April that really hurt the economy. Nonessential businesses shut down, workers and traders could not leave home, and demand for labor dried up. The initial COVID-19 prevention measures worked well — resulting in only a few hundred infections in a country of over 50 million by June — but led to a sharp spike in poverty rates followed by a modest economic recovery in mid-2020. However, by September 2020, the country had faced a second, far worse phase of the crisis, with another wave of infections emerging in Rakhine in August 2020 and quickly spreading out of control to Yangon and other regions. Myanmar went from a few hundred confirmed cases in early August to more than 80,000 by late November (though this was surely a large underestimate, given low testing rates), despite widespread lockdown measures starting in mid-September. Then, just as the economy was showing signs of recovery in early 2021, the military took control of the government on February 1, 2021, sparking wide-scale protests and strikes, withdrawal of major foreign investments, crippling financial instability, and a collapse of economic confidence. To make matters worse, mid-2021 saw the Delta wave sweep through Myanmar, producing even higher rates of infection.
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spelling CGSpace1414192025-12-08T10:11:39Z Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar Headey, Derek D. Cho, Ame Mahrt, Kristi Diao, Xinshen Lambrecht, Isabel B. value chains economic impact agricultural products policies covid-19 health political aspects social protection nutrition trade food security poverty morbidity COVID-19-related trade disruptions hit several sectors in Myanmar as early as January 2020, but it was the appearance of the country’s first cases in March 2020 and the subsequent lockdown in April that really hurt the economy. Nonessential businesses shut down, workers and traders could not leave home, and demand for labor dried up. The initial COVID-19 prevention measures worked well — resulting in only a few hundred infections in a country of over 50 million by June — but led to a sharp spike in poverty rates followed by a modest economic recovery in mid-2020. However, by September 2020, the country had faced a second, far worse phase of the crisis, with another wave of infections emerging in Rakhine in August 2020 and quickly spreading out of control to Yangon and other regions. Myanmar went from a few hundred confirmed cases in early August to more than 80,000 by late November (though this was surely a large underestimate, given low testing rates), despite widespread lockdown measures starting in mid-September. Then, just as the economy was showing signs of recovery in early 2021, the military took control of the government on February 1, 2021, sparking wide-scale protests and strikes, withdrawal of major foreign investments, crippling financial instability, and a collapse of economic confidence. To make matters worse, mid-2021 saw the Delta wave sweep through Myanmar, producing even higher rates of infection. 2022-03-07 2024-04-12T13:37:53Z 2024-04-12T13:37:53Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141419 en https://www.ifpri.org/blog/waves-disease-waves-poverty-new-evidence-economic-impacts-covid-19-myanmar https://www.ifpri.org/interactive/covid2022 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Headey, Derek D.; Cho, Ame; Mahrt, Kristi; Diao, Xinshen; and Lambrecht, Isabel. 2022. Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar. In COVID-19 and global food security: Two years later, eds. John McDermott and Johan Swinnen. Part One: Food Security & Poverty, Chapter 6, Pp. 46-50. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294226_06.
spellingShingle value chains
economic impact
agricultural products
policies
covid-19
health
political aspects
social protection
nutrition
trade
food security
poverty
morbidity
Headey, Derek D.
Cho, Ame
Mahrt, Kristi
Diao, Xinshen
Lambrecht, Isabel B.
Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title_full Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title_fullStr Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title_full_unstemmed Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title_short Waves of disease, waves of poverty: New evidence on the economic impacts of COVID-19 and political instability in Myanmar
title_sort waves of disease waves of poverty new evidence on the economic impacts of covid 19 and political instability in myanmar
topic value chains
economic impact
agricultural products
policies
covid-19
health
political aspects
social protection
nutrition
trade
food security
poverty
morbidity
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141419
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