LIFT and 3MDG hosted a visit by the UK’s Minister of State for International Development RT Honourable Alistair Burt to projects in Yangon and the Ayeyarwady Delta on July 1.
Mr Burt was joined on the visit by DFID’s Asia Region Director Richard Montgomery, DFID Myanmar’s Livelihoods and Nutrition Adviser Joanne Raisin and a team of technical experts from the UK. DFID is a major donor to both LIFT and 3MDG.
The delegation visited two LIFT-funded projects to obtain a real sense of the impact LIFT is having on rural lives and the pace of rural transition in Myanmar.
In Kyauktan township of Yangon the delegation met with two rural entrepreneurs who have purchased machinery through LIFT’s Agribusiness Finance Programme, a USD 18 million project run by Yoma Bank that provides rural finance for the purchase of agriculture equipment. In 2016, more than 3,000 rural small and medium businesses were financed for the purchase of tractors, combine harvesters and transportation vehicles valued at USD 56 million.
In Dedaye, in the Delta, the delegation visited the WorldFish aquaculture project funded by LIFT and spoke with two rice farmers who are now also engaged in aquaculture. The team spoke to the farmers about the incomes they are generating from aquaculture, their commitment to remain engaged in aquaculture and interest from other farmers to join.
After lunch, the Minister went on to visit 3MDG-supported health projects, also in Dedaye in the Delta. He met basic health staff, community volunteers and beneficiaries at Hmaw Aing Rural Health Centre. They discussed community health challenges, and how to improve health seeking behaviour and confidence in health services in the area.
In rural areas, midwives provide community health services out of rural and sub-rural health centres. They also conduct outreach visits, where they look for pregnant women and people who may be unwell. They provide care as well as health information, and encourage communities to seek health services. The Minister had the opportunity to meet mothers who had given birth with the assistance of the midwife and other basic health staff, and their new babies.
