Change of Rural Society and Local Agro-ecological Knowledge in Myanmar

In may 2001, the SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Tradition and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of  Kyoto Universities came together to launch a research project, “Historical Development of Rural Societies and Villagers’ Livelihood in Myanmar”. The aim of the project was to study the changes that had been going on in Myanmar at the village level from the earlier opening up of Myanmar under the colonial order to the more recent developments as Myanmar shifted from being a centrally planned economy to one which was market-oriented.

Since the project was designed as microcosmic village study, much attention was paid to the selection of an appropiate project site. After a preliminary survey of potential sites, Gwa township in southern Rakhine State was finally selected.

For much of the pre-colonial period, Gwa was an out-of-the-way, obscure area, much removed from the developments in Rakhine State which were centered in Mrauk-oo, the capital in the north, and in the subsidiary centre of Thandwe in the central Rakhine State which provided the main point of overland access to the central valley of the Ayeyarwady. It was mainly during the colonial perioda that Gwa began to develop, with a migration into the area from the north via the Ayeyarwady delta which featured largely in the Brittish colonial programme of developing commercial rice cultivation and the export of rice to underwrite Brittish colonial administrative expenses.

Gwa entered into a second period of development when, with the change towards a market-oriented economy, together with the development of major communication and transportation facilities providing access, the fishing industry of the Rakhine coast was encouraged in the effort to produce marine export products for an international market.

The research project conducted at Gwa from May 2001 to March 2003, was a multi disciplinary project which attempted to study the change in rural society and villagers’ livelihood from a variety point of views. For this multi-disciplinary
study, SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Tradition was able to draw upon the rich scholarly resources available at several Myanmar academic institutions; the Universities’ Historical Research Centre, the University of Yangon, and the Institute of Economics.

The conduct of the research project was marked by a close camaraderie among the participating scholars as they exchanged theoritical insights, research methodologies, views and experiences across cultures and discipline to enrich each other’s work. The project also benefited from the welcome and cooperation extended to it by local authorities and the local community.

The results of the research project were presented and discussed by the participating scholars in a two-day workshop, “Change of Rural Society and Local Agro-Ecological Knowledge in Myanmar”, held in the SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Tradition in Yangon, 16-17th March 2004, and they are now made available to a wider audience in this publication.