This briefing note presents the findings of seven case studies conducted from May to June 2014. The studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand and looked into the livelihood and food security among indigenous shifting cultivation communities in…

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Qualitative Social and Economic Monitoring of Livelihoods in Myanmar (QSEM) research program provides a descriptive picture of rural life in Myanmar. It examines people’s livelihood strategies and activities, the wider factors that shape these strategies…

On 18 October 2014 the Myanmar government released a much-awaited draft national land use policy. Land and how it is governed is of fundamental importance for Myanmar society. The current laws mainly benefit private companies and not small-holder farmers in the country, who represent more then…

Despite the many transformations taking place in Myanmar, its agricultural sector is lagging. A high proportion of rural households remain poor and food insecure as a result. This article examines the underlying causes of poor agricultural performance through a combination of literature and…

This comprehensive review of Myanmar's policies regarding inward direct investment covers such issues as trends in investment in Myanmar, responsible business conduct, regulation and protection of investment, investment promotion and facilitation, tax policy, the financial sector in Myanmar…

This report summarises provisional results of Myanmar’s 2014 population and housing census. (Main census results released in May 2015.) The provisional results provide the total population by sex and administrative unit, from national, state/region, district down to township level. It also shows…

This paper describes the current challenges Myanmar faces to shift to a system more inclusive of multiple interest groups. The authors provide background on the situation in Myanmar and its past levels of performance. They describe ethnic and religious violence, current economic progress, and…

According to the Climate Risk Index, less developed countries are generally more affected than industrialised countries. The countries affected most in 2013 were the Philippines, Cambodia and India. For the period from 1994 to 2013 Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti rank highest. Regarding future…

Since holding elections in 2010, Myanmar has transitioned from a direct military dictatorship to a formally democratic system and has embarked on a period of rapid economic reform. After two decades of military rule, the pace of change has startled almost everyone and led to a great deal of…

Although corruption is a core issue in discourses on Southeast Asian states and the region’s illegal timber trade, its specific meanings, characteristics, and role are poorly understood. Our ethnographic study of corruption and timber trade in the lower Mekong uncovers the relationships,…

On remote Madae Island on Myanmar’s western coast, the Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), is constructing a huge seaport, oil terminal and oil and gas pipeline to China for shipping more than 80% of China’s imported oil from the Middle East and Africa without people…

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report deals with land concessions in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Thailand – a much contended topic which leads discussants from issues such as land ownership and utilization to social structures, human rights and beyond. Overall, this…