LIFT Forum 2019 hosted an animated marketplace featuring some of LIFT’s partners’ work in Myanmar in a variety of sectors such as nutrition, agriculture, financial inclusion and gender equality. PATH, in partnership with Population Services International (PSI), and TPA International Development’s Plan Bee Project were awarded the prizes for Most Creative and Most Informative stands.

Read about some of LIFT’s partners’ most inspiring projects:

PATH and PSI: Battling malnutrition with fortified rice

Myanmar is one of Asia’s most malnourished countries with one third of children suffering from stunting, and many more from micronutrient deficiencies that can have severe long-term consequences for health and mental development. PATH, in partnership with PSI, therefore launched fortified rice in Myanmar in 2013 in order to reach out to as many people as possible; Myanmar’s population being one of the highest rice consumers in the world. Fortified rice is nearly identical to regular rice in aroma, taste, and texture, but includes iron, zinc, vitamin A, thiamine, folic acid, and other B vitamins. PATH hopes to set the stage for a future in which all rice consumed throughout Myanmar is fortified.
 
Plan Bee: Developing skills and modernising Myanmar’s beekeeping industry
 

Originally developed by Tag International Development, Plan Bee Social Enterprise seeks to modernise beekeeping in Shan State and to improve employment, skills, nutrition and livelihood opportunities. The project provides training and equipment to local people to develop the processing and marketing of high-quality organic honey in the country. The project has so far initiated 19 Community-Based Enterprises and small cooperatives of new beekeepers.

Land Core Group: Learning about women’s access to land in rural areas
 
Land Core Group (LCG) works with the government, parliament and civil society to reform policy, law and procedures that impact people’s rights to their land; particularly for women and men smallholders and indigenous communities. In 2016, LCG organised Myanmar’s first Female Farmers’ Forum in Mandalay to bring together women farmers from all around the country and discuss land-related issues. In some ethnic groups for example, there are no inheritance rights for women, meaning that women can often only access land through male family members. LCG’s Land & Gender Project aims to analyse how women and men own, use and access land in different rural areas, and consequently identify actions that can improve land rights for women.
 

Mercy Corp: Increasing income in Laputta through agriculture, skills and employment

Mercy Corps works with farmer entrepreneurs, financial service providers and other key community stakeholders for businesses and individuals to thrive on economic opportunities and develop productive relationships. In rural Laputta, Mercy Corps has launched the Linking Laputta to Markets (LLM) Programme to facilitate linkages to higher value rice and employment markets for 3,950 smallholder rice farmers and 1,575 landless women and men. The aim is to restore and strengthen the rice sector in Laputta, where rice is the main livelihood of local people.

Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF): Granting microloans to poor rural women
 
Founded in February 2012, PGMF manages 84% of NGO-provided microfinance in Myanmar with a loan portfolio of USD 230 million. Today, PGMF has reached more than 1.7 million individuals, over 98% of whom are women, in 14,383 villages from 79 townships. PGMF prioritises the wellbeing and empowerment by offering tailored loan products without collateral.