Myanmar Agri-Business Group (MABG) based in the Southeast Asian country’s capital, Yangon, is known for processing and exporting of high quality chemical-free products such as ginger, turmeric and organic teas, which are all sustainably grown by smallholder farmers.
The MABG company has benefited a lot from recent events in Myanmar, given that the country has just opened its doors to the global market. Myanmar has just established its first stock exchange which has led to the inflow of foreign investment and improved trade relations. The company has been greatly benefiting from these events. MABG just received processing machinery through a USAID project grant, helping it to expand production to meet market demands.
Horticulture Specialist Dr. Reza Rafie of Virginia State University in the U.S. is optimistic about MABG and Myanmar promoting its products abroad. Dr. Rafie, with the help of Winrock International, has spent time this year to help smallholder farmers to improve their quality of production, as well as their yields and profits, by sharing his valuable post-harvest best practices among different villages in the country. His passion for introducing Myanmar ginger to the world was evident, he recently piloted the exporting of targeted shipping containers containing Myanmar ginger as well as promoting it in events such as international trade fairs in Bangkok and Berlin.
MABG and other innovative firms in Myanmar are pioneering the export of agricultural products to the world, at the same time enabling rural farmers of the country to participate in the current rapid economic transition by increasing their incomes. Given the current market trends, it’s just a matter of time before Myanmar reaches every corner of the world, and everyone gets the chance to support the Burmese smallholder farmer.
