ေက်းရြာသစ္လႈပ္ရွားမႈစီမံကိန္း
Korea International Cooperation Agency

Support alleviation of rural poverty through livelihoods development, income generation and capacity development of rural residents by adapting the Korean rural development model of SMU to Myanmar context.

In response to the request by the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to adapt the SMU model to Myanmar, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is to start the “Project on the Saemaul Undong (New Village Movement) in Myanmar”. It is to be implemented from last quarter of 2014 to 2019 within the total budget of US$22 million, in close collaboration with the counterpart Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) and local governments concerned.

The purpose of the Project is "to uplift standard of living for rural communities and thereby contribute to socio-economic development of Myanmar”. The Project will be implemented under the following four components: (a) Formulation of the Master Plan on Saemaul Undong (including conducting baseline survey and developing national rural development policy); (b) Establishment of the Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Training Center (AERDTC) (including physical construction of the Academy in Nay Pyi Taw, developing education and training curriculum and materials, organizing training the trainers/community movement leaders); (c) Implementation of Pilot Saemaul Undong Model Villages (a total of 100 model villages to be selected by five different typologies of community environment such as dry zone, delta area, plain field, hill side, and sea side).

The key principles and added value of adopting the model of Saemaul Undong in driving income generation and sustainable rural development of Myanmar are as follows: (a) Emphasis on mindset and behaviour change first by infusing the spirit of self help and can-do attitude into people in rural communities; (b) Calling on strong leadership of, and committed support by, the Central Government by providing guidance, resources, and establishing systematic implementation mechanisms at the national, local and village levels; (c) Results-oriented and competition-driven approach to funding rural communities by providing collective incentives to better performed villages; and (d) Promotion of local ownership led by village leaders.

Rural community.