Migration in Myanmar during a time of crisis: evidence from the Myanmar Household Welfare Survey and the Myanmar Migration Assessment

Seminar no. 1247
17 January 2024 Time 12.30 – 13.30 hrs.

Abstract for Seminar Households in Myanmar are suffering from a multitude of shocks including violence, a weakening domestic economy, and inflation. To cope with these shocks, households and individuals are migrating. From December 2021 to June 2023, an estimated 28.5 percent of households had a member leave. On top of that, between February 2021 and July 2023, approximately 10 percent of households in Myanmar migrated. We find that at least 24 percent of the population of Myanmar has migrated between February 2021 and July 2023. In this presentation, we will use data collected by the Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA) including the Myanmar Household Welfare Survey (MHWS) and the Myanmar Migration Assessment (MMA) to explore individual and household migration in Myanmar. We will focus on the drivers of migration, migration routes, challenges during the migration processes, and how living conditions and access to basic necessities have changed after migration. Additionally, we will highlight how important remittances are for household welfare in Myanmar. Finally, we will discuss how to understand, use, and access the two datasets, MHWS and MMA, which are publicly available. MAPSA integrates research, policy design, and public outreach to establish the long-term foundations of a secure and inclusive agricultural sector in Myanmar. MAPSA is a USAID-funded Feed the Future Initiative, implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute, in partnership with Michigan State University. Speakers Joanna van Asselt is an Associate Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA). She has her PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Florida and her MA in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Moe Sabai is a Research Analyst at IFPRI MAPSA. She has a BA in Economics from Grinnell College. Nang Lun Kham Synt is a Research Analyst at IFPRI MAPSA. She has a MS in Gender and Development Studies from the Asian Institute of Technology and a BA in Agricultural Science from Yezin Agricultural University.