Living on borrowed rice
WHEN Myo Than was a young man, his family had 12 hectares of farmland in Dala, a rural township just across the river from Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. His mother sold most of it after his father died. Mr Myo Than grows rice on what’s left, but water shortages mean he reaps just one harvest each year. He borrows money from the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB)—1.5m kyats ($ 1,100) this year, at an annual rate of 8%—to cover planting costs. But rice is a low-return crop. To repay the bank he borrows from local moneylenders at a rate of around 4% each month. Mr Myo Than owes them $ 7,300. He has given his land deeds to a moneylender as security.
Mr Myo Than’s predicament is not unusual: poor crop returns and usurious loan terms have kept Myanmar’s farmers trapped in poverty and debt. Around 60% of Myanmar’s population are engaged in agriculture. Most are poor, and farm small plots of land using age-old manual techniques. Farmers scythe rice fields; water buffaloes pull wooden ploughs; hay-laden bullock-carts trundle down narrow roads.
Many farmers borrow to cover planting costs, buy equipment or…
The Economist: Finance and economics
