Urban Resilience Project community farms (Yangon, Myanmar; UNDP)

The food-growing strand of UNDP's Urban Resilience Project, which works in eight of Yangon's most vulnerable townships. In Thanmada Kan Chay Ward, 27 women's groups proposed turning former dumpsites into farms. Straw-mushroom cultivation and container gardening are the mainstays; by early 2025 almost 900 urban farmers had been trained and 250 had received small business grants, with more than 4,000 people benefiting overall. The work responds to urban poverty in Yangon rising from 10% in 2017 to 43% — some 2.7 million residents — in 2023.

Twenty-seven women's groups in the ward proposed the farms, and the sites were opened on that basis. The groups run and cultivate them collectively, with a township facilitator providing technical support. By early 2025 almost 900 urban farmers had been trained in sustainable agriculture, and 250 of them received small business grants.

Funded from UNDP core resources plus donor contributions. Training and inputs are combined with small business grants so that income accrues to the groups. As the township facilitator put it, the long-term goal is to raise women's incomes in the area by encouraging them to work together in groups.

An example from a city hit by conflict and economic disruption, combining vacant-land conversion with collective management by women's groups. Reclaiming dumpsites as growing ground is itself an environmental gain for the ward. Linking training to grants rather than stopping at training makes this a useful reference for bridging emergency relief and livelihood support.

Uses empty ward land, formerly dumpsites; the form of the arrangement is not stated in the published material.

This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.

• OfficialMyanmar's urban harvest（United Nations in Myanmar／UNDP） ↗myanmar.un.org