Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar

Myanmar has experienced a sequence of dire crises beginning in 2019 including the unexpected closure of a principal trade route, COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions, and a military coup leading to years of disruptions in the banking and transport sectors, inflation, and conflict. Yet, through...

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Main Authors: Goeb, Joseph, San, Cho Cho, Belton, Ben, Synt, Nang Lun Kham, Aung, Nilar, Maredia, Mywish, Minten, Bart
Format: Conference Paper
Language:Inglés
Published: International Association of Agricultural Economists 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151551
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author Goeb, Joseph
San, Cho Cho
Belton, Ben
Synt, Nang Lun Kham
Aung, Nilar
Maredia, Mywish
Minten, Bart
author_browse Aung, Nilar
Belton, Ben
Goeb, Joseph
Maredia, Mywish
Minten, Bart
San, Cho Cho
Synt, Nang Lun Kham
author_facet Goeb, Joseph
San, Cho Cho
Belton, Ben
Synt, Nang Lun Kham
Aung, Nilar
Maredia, Mywish
Minten, Bart
author_sort Goeb, Joseph
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Myanmar has experienced a sequence of dire crises beginning in 2019 including the unexpected closure of a principal trade route, COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions, and a military coup leading to years of disruptions in the banking and transport sectors, inflation, and conflict. Yet, through these cascading shocks Myanmar’s maize sector experienced robust growth in production and exports. This paper examines the reasons underlying this apparent paradox and our findings contribute to the small but growing literatures on agri-food value chain (AVC) resilience and adaptation by traders. Strengthening the resilience of AVCs to shocks has important implications for welfare in developing countries and is increasingly drawing attention from policymakers and development partners. Using data from several sources including rare panel data sets of traders and farmers, and key informant interviews, we show that crop traders have been critical to the resilience of the maize value chain in Myanmar during this turbulent period. Maize traders performed three key functions contributing to resilience: (i) market discovery when primary trade routes were closed; (ii) overcoming transportation disruptions and bank closures to move maize from the farmgate to local and export markets; (iii) maintaining flows of credit to farmers throughout the crises in the form of selling inputs on credit and lending cash, thereby injecting much needed liquidity at times of incredible uncertainty, disruptions in the banking sector, and rising input prices. JEL Codes: Q13, D74, Q02, Q12, D22
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spelling CGSpace1515512025-06-26T16:54:48Z Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar Goeb, Joseph San, Cho Cho Belton, Ben Synt, Nang Lun Kham Aung, Nilar Maredia, Mywish Minten, Bart agrifood sector maize value chains resilience Myanmar has experienced a sequence of dire crises beginning in 2019 including the unexpected closure of a principal trade route, COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions, and a military coup leading to years of disruptions in the banking and transport sectors, inflation, and conflict. Yet, through these cascading shocks Myanmar’s maize sector experienced robust growth in production and exports. This paper examines the reasons underlying this apparent paradox and our findings contribute to the small but growing literatures on agri-food value chain (AVC) resilience and adaptation by traders. Strengthening the resilience of AVCs to shocks has important implications for welfare in developing countries and is increasingly drawing attention from policymakers and development partners. Using data from several sources including rare panel data sets of traders and farmers, and key informant interviews, we show that crop traders have been critical to the resilience of the maize value chain in Myanmar during this turbulent period. Maize traders performed three key functions contributing to resilience: (i) market discovery when primary trade routes were closed; (ii) overcoming transportation disruptions and bank closures to move maize from the farmgate to local and export markets; (iii) maintaining flows of credit to farmers throughout the crises in the form of selling inputs on credit and lending cash, thereby injecting much needed liquidity at times of incredible uncertainty, disruptions in the banking sector, and rising input prices. JEL Codes: Q13, D74, Q02, Q12, D22 2024-08-07 2024-08-06T19:29:54Z 2024-08-06T19:29:54Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151551 en https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100699 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137041 Open Access International Association of Agricultural Economists Goeb, Joseph; San, Cho Cho; Belton, Ben; Synt, Nang Lun Kham; Aung, Nilar; Maredia, Mywish; and Minten, Bart. 2024. Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: the case of maize in Myanmar. 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.344306
spellingShingle agrifood sector
maize
value chains
resilience
Goeb, Joseph
San, Cho Cho
Belton, Ben
Synt, Nang Lun Kham
Aung, Nilar
Maredia, Mywish
Minten, Bart
Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title_full Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title_fullStr Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title_full_unstemmed Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title_short Traders and agri-food value chain resilience: The case of maize in Myanmar
title_sort traders and agri food value chain resilience the case of maize in myanmar
topic agrifood sector
maize
value chains
resilience
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151551
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