Myanmar Aquaculture Performance Assessment II

Aquaculture sector in Myanmar is regarded as an essential contributor to livelihood opportunities to households, particularly increasing the income of small-scale farmers, providing food and nutrition security, increasing employment opportunities, and empowering women. To promote the sustainable development of aquaculture in Myanmar, WorldFish and its partners implemented the SPAITS project funded by the BMZ. As an activity of the project, this study assessed the performance of tilapia aquaculture by small-scale farmers in Myanmar. In this study, we applied a primary data collection approach using a survey questionnaire to assess the aquaculture performance assessment of GIFT and non-GIFT tilapia at the pond level. The survey instrument was adapted from the SPAITS baseline survey conducted in 2019 (Zeller et al., 2020), comprising the following modules: Household member characteristics; details of aquaculture production including fish stocking and harvest use; quantity and source of inputs; labor composition; fish mortality rate; and management practices; and other socioeconomic indicators such as farmers’ perception and adaptation to climatic shocks; household food insecurity access scale; fish consumption; food safety and certification; access to information and credit; risk preference; and households’ land and income allocation. A total of 615 farmers were selected as our sample size using convenience and snowball sampling techniques, of which 576 of them provided consent to proceed with the interview. Based on their latest fish farming cycle, we classified the farmers into GIFT farmers, non-GIFT farmers, and other fish species farmers. The survey was carried out for approximately five weeks, from March to early April 2022. The data collection process was conducted through telephone due to COVID-19 restrictions. Our result analysis indicates that the per day growth rate and survival rate of GIFT tilapia are significantly higher than of non-GIFT tilapia. In terms of benefit-cost (BC) analysis across the different sub-samples, GIFT tilapia farmers had a higher BC ratio compared to non-GIFT tilapia farmers and other species due to its higher productivity and low operation costs. Knowledge and findings from this study contribute to improve the performance of aquaculture production systems in Myanmar. To further support small-scale aquaculture sector development in Myanmar, appropriate interventions and policies should be implemented.