The LIFT Annual Forum 2014 took place in Nay Pyi Taw on November 25 and 26th, with more than 300 participants from the rural sector.
The agenda for Days 1 and 2 and soft copies of the presentations are available here. Video of the presentations is available at LIFT's youtube account: please watch the presentations in English here, and in Myanmar language here.
DAY 1 - THE CHANGING DYNAMICS OF MYANMAR’S RURAL ECONOMY
Tuesday, 25 November
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome by His Excellency U Tin Ngwe, Deputy Minister of Livestock, Fishery and Rural Development
9:15 – 9:30 Welcome by His Excellency Roland Kobia, Ambassador of the European Union to Myanmar (in English and
9:30 – 10:00 Professor Thomas Reardon, Michigan State University
Keynote speech: The Emerging Quiet Revolution in Agrifood Value Chains and Livelihoods in Myanmar (in English)
10:30 – 12:00 The Changing Dynamics of Myanmar’s Rural Economy
Panel session moderated by Andrew Kirkwood, LIFT
Panellists:
• Dr Zarni Minn, Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development (MoLFRD) (in English)
• Professor Thomas Reardon, Michigan State University
• Michiko Ito, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) (in English)
1:00 – 1:05 Fashion show by the LIFT-funded ActionAid initiative, the Socio Economic Development Network (SEDN), with commentary by Daw Myo Myint Myat Htun (in English)
1:05 – 1:45 How profitable is smallholder farming in Myanmar?
Presentation by Dr Sergiy Zorya from the World Bank, with preliminary finding from phase one of the upcoming LIFT/World Bank study, Analysis of Farm
Production Economics. Q&A (in Myanmar and in English)
2:15 – 3:15 Private sector engagement with smallholder farmers
Panel session moderated by LIFT Fund Board member, James Goggin, USAID
Panellists:
• Dr U Tin Htut, Director General, Department of Agricultural Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
• U Myint Kyaw, LIFT (in English)
• David Pettinari, Nestle (in English)
• Kenneth Kyaw Shein, PRIME Holding (in English)
3:15 – 4:00 Introducing the Market Place
Introduced by Claudia Antonelli, LIFT Fund Board
Three LIFT implementing partners present a lesson from 2014:
• Proximity Designs (in Myanmar and in English)
• HelpAge (in Myanmar and in English)
• GRET (in Myanmar and in English)
DAY 2 - SUPPORTING RESILIENCE AND GROWTH
Wednesday, 26 November
8:15 – 9:00 Market Place & registration
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome by Dr U Tin Htut, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
9:15 – 10:00 Dr Yvonne Pinto, Agricultural Learning and Impacts Network (ALINe) (in Myanmar and in English)
Keynote speech: Building a knowledge platform for agriculture and rural development: Evidence-based learning and results based management in Myanmar
10:30 – 11:30 Building a Knowledge Platform for Agriculture and Rural Development in Myanmar - Panel session moderated by Dr Yvonne Pinto
Panellists:
• Dr Zaw Oo, Myanmar Development Resource Institute (MDRI-CESD)
• Dr Ohnmar Khaing, the Food Security Working Group (FSWG) (in English)
• Shon Campbell, Myanmar Infomation Management Unit (MIMU) (in English)
12:30 – 1:45 Increasing the Resilience of Rural Households - Panel session moderated by Mike Wales, LIFT Fund Board Member
Panellists:
• Dr Sekhar Nagothu, Professor and Director at Bioforsk, Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research - on climate smart agriculture (in English)
• Professor Nay Htun, Stonybrook University and Green Economy Green Growth Myanmar (GEGG) (in English)
• Dr Mike P Griffiths, Social Policy and Poverty Research Group (SPPRG)
• Andrea Menefee, Nutrition Specialist, Save the Children (in English)
1:45 – 2:15 Presentation: Market Place display table winner awarded by popular choice to IRRI
Closing remarks by Gavin McGillivray, LIFT Donor Consortium member and Head of DFID in Myanmar
You can find pictures of the Forum on LIFT's facebook page: www.facebook.com/liftfund
