When It Rains, It Pours: Challenges and Opportunities in Myanmar's Sesame Value ChainWhen It Rains, It Pours is the third publication from Proximity Designs, a Yangon-based social business and one of Myanmar’s largest providers of agricultural products and services. The book provides a panoramic view of the sesame ecosystem in Myanmar, with a deep dive from the perspective of small farmers, and offers tangible opportunities to address the challenges they face. Known as the forgotten crop for its tendency to be overshadowed by the more established paddy, sesame is grown in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone by an estimated 500,000 farmers. Myanmar is also one of the top exporters of sesame in the world, with even greater export potential, but many factors threaten the livelihood of sesame farmers, such as climate change, labor shortages and pests and diseases. The publications is the output of eight weeks of intensive research conducted in Myanmar’s main sesame growing areas by a team of ten design researchers, seven from Proximity’s own team and three from world-renowned design firm Studio D Radiodurans. Using a design research approach, the team sought to deliver a deep, human understanding of the problems sesame farmers face and opportunities to overcome them. |
Common terms and phrases
acidity Activities and tools agricultural animal manure Aung Aunglan baskets black sesame brittle brokers buyers Call-out cash CEXC chickpea consumers consumption costs credit providers crops cultivation cycle Dry Zone export Facebook fertilisers Figure fungicides GAP recommendations groundnut groundnut oil groundwater grow harvest household income inputs intercropping irrigation Kyaw labour land preparation loans machine renters machinery Magway Mandalay margins market price metric tons miller milling million MMK mobile money moisture monsoon sesame Myanmar Nay Pyi Taw OPPORTUNITY AREA Opportunity organisations ox-cart paddy palm oil percent pesticides pigeon pea plot ploughing potential processor propagation seeds Proximity Designs pump purchase Pwintbyu rain rainfall rely rent required per acre risk rural sell sesame farmers sesame oil sesame plant sesame production sesame seeds sesame value chain sieving smartphone snacks soil stage sunflower oil township tractor traders transporters upkeep village head weather weeding white sesame winter sesame Yangon yield