Factors Contributing to Poverty Incidence in Irrigated and Rainfed Ecosystems in Central Myanmar (2008)

Abstract

     Farm-level household data collected during 2008 from 370 households in four villages were used to measure the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among farm households under irrigated and rainfed ecosystems in central Myanmar. The study found that the mean per capita income used as an indicator of relative poverty for irrigated households was higher than that for rainfed households, while the percentage of households living below the poverty line was lower among irrigated households than among rainfed households. The poverty regression results showed that an increase in household size could increase significantly the probability of poverty incidence, which in turn could be reduced significantly, especially by changing from rainfed ecosystems to irrigated ones, by creating more farm jobs and by growing more rice.