On 8th September, a delegation from FAO’s Office of Evaluation presented to members of the government the results from the
evaluation of FAO’s contribution to the Myanmar Country Programme. This encompassed but was not limited to FAO’s
interventions under the FAO Myanmar Country Programming Framework (2012–2016).
“The FAO Office of Evaluation has been conducting country programme evaluations since 2005 to provide accountability to
Member countries, national governments and development partners, and draw lessons and good practices for programme
improvement” explained Masahiro Igarashi, Director of the Office of Evaluation. Mr Harvey Garcia, Evaluation Officer,
explained that more than 800 stakeholders and beneficiaries were interviewed during the evaluation process, in addition
to conducting field visits, three case studies and two related evaluations.
“Through this evaluation we can gather information and have a true picture of the work done in the past five years. We
will be using the recommendations of the evaluation to guide our future work, and particularly to reorient our future
strategy and revise the Country Programming Framework, which ended in 2016” explained Ms Xiaojie Fan, the FAO
Representative in Myanmar. “We are happy to see that both FAO and the government have a mutual goal to achieve the
long-term objective of food security, but also to address the more immediate aim to raise awareness on malnutrition and
food safety”.
Among the results presented, the Office of the Evaluation, noted that FAO’s interventions are well-aligned with national
goals and priorities and drew the attention to the important role played by the organization in supporting and advising the
government on agriculture. This support included the launch of important renovation processes, such as those related to
the national seed system. Moreover, the evaluation pointed out how FAO accompanied the country in its transition,
providing valuable assistance and knowledge to the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department for the prevention,
surveillance and control of transboundary animal diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza.
With the purpose of improving FAO’s future interventions in the country, the evaluation formulated recommendations for
the country office: for example, to improve gender equality as a driving force for change in future programmes, conduct a
thorough gender and context analysis, and to continue the good work in co-managing natural resources, particularly in
forest and fisheries communities. Moreover, FAO should continue its policy support to further develop food control
systems and formulate a comprehensive food safety policy and strategy defining the roles, responsibilities and
coordination of standard regulations among ministries and regulation bodies.
To conclude, Mr Ian Llyod, Independent Evaluator and Land Tenure Expert, recommended FAO “(…) to further assist the
government of Myanmar also in planning land programmes and policy, and develop a long-term plan for land
administration, in partnership with civil society”.