Rural Household's Income Diversification, Climate Risk and Wetland Ecosystem: Case Study in Tha Nat Pin Township, Bago Region, Myanmar

An arm of the Andaman Sea in the southern part of Myanmar, Gulf of Mottama Region (GoM), is supporting both coastal population and agricultural productivity in Bago Region and Mon State. The livelihoods in the rural sector depend on agriculture, livestock, and fishing and self-employment activities. In the Gulf of Mottama Region, aquaculture is essential to work to create income generation for fisherman. The study investigates the socioeconomic situation and income diversification from different sources of group livelihood activities in Tha Nat Pin Township, Bago Region. Snowball sampling technique was adopted in the collection of 109 rural households using a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. Both descriptive and one-way ANOVA statistics were employed to verifythe objectives of the study. The result of the analysis showed that the majority of sampled households havea mean age of 45 years with an average family size of 5 people. The majority of sampled households completed primary school education (74%) and 41% of the income-earning member is from international migration. The study revealed that above 80% of flooding in these studied areas directly destroyed the farmlands, fish pondsand livestock and housing. The findings showed that agriculture is the highest income shared in these villages where 66% of sampled farmers grew in monsoon and summer seasons. The study found that the highest annual mean income earned from three types of livelihood groups included agriculture, fishery and livestock (US$32,085) in Tha Nat Tan Village (TNT). In Aung Bone Gyi Village, four types of livelihood groups (agriculture, fishery, livestock and small business) earned US$22,427 and only one livelihood group as agricultural crop production (US$5,504) inKywe Hphyu Chaung Village (KPC). The better-off group was found in Tha Nat Tan Village(above 78%), in Aung Bone Gyi Village and Kywe Hphyu Chaung Village(nearly 60%). One-third of sampled respondents receivedpoor income return fromlivelihood with less diversification groups. More diversified livelihood options obtainedhigher income than only one livelihood option. Agriculture plus other livelihood activities can earn better-off level of sampled household inthis study. It was recommended that agricultural crop production should be adequately improvedwith climate-smart agriculture technology and credit access and easy access toinput and farm machineries and post-harvest technology in these areas.