NOURISH Myanmar

Dec 12, 2025
4 min read

Updated: 17 hours ago

Trust-centered Resilient Local Market Systems for Climate-Smart, Nutrition-Smart Communities

What is NOURISH?

NOURISH Myanmar (Nourishment Over Uncertainty: Resilient and Innovative Food Systems for Hope) is a multi-stakeholder initiative led by Myanmar Innovative Life Sciences (MILS), SUN Business Network (SBN) Myanmar convened by the World Food Programme (WFP), together with its strategic partners.

It focuses on strengthening local market systems, expanding access to trusted agricultural innovations, promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, and improving community access to safe, nutritious food across Myanmar’s shifting agri-food landscape.

NOURISH reflects a shared commitment to helping farmers, processors, and local communities adapt to climate change, improve livelihoods, and build long-term resilience.

NOURISH Myanmar is built on a “Trust as Infrastructure” approach, recognizing that in fragile food systems, resilience depends not only on physical inputs and markets, but also on trusted relationships, information flows, coordination mechanisms, and equitable access to agricultural innovation across the agri-food system.

Why NOURISH matters

Food systems in Myanmar are under increasing pressure from climate extremes, rising food prices, fragmented market linkages, and weak storage and transport infrastructure. These systemic constraints are contributing to persistent micronutrient deficiencies and deepening socio-economic vulnerability among households.

In this context, agricultural innovation is essential for resilience and adaptation. However, in fragile environments such as Myanmar, innovation is constrained not only by resource limitations, but by weakened trust and coordination across market actors. This breakdown in trust disrupts market participation, slows the diffusion of innovation, and creates invisible barriers to long-term food system transformation.

NOURISH responds to these challenges through a localization-first, market-systems approach that not only enhanced the capabilities but also strengthens trusted relationships, coordination pathways, and information flows between farmers, buyers, processors, and humanitarian actors — enabling local food systems to function more efficiently, inclusively, and resiliently.

Photo: NOURISH Myanmar Project Launching at Food Systems Forum 2025

What NOURISH Myanmar aims to achieve

Overall Goal

To strengthen local market systems by enabling smallholder farmers to adopt climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and improving linkages across the value chain, from inputs to processing, to community access and humanitarian procurement.

Target Areas & Beneficiaries

Geographic Focus: Southern Shan / South-East Myanmar

Beneficiary Groups:

200–250 smallholder farmers
15-20 local food processors / MSMEs
750 - 800 school children
1000 community members

NOURISH Myanmar prioritizes vulnerable rural communities while strengthening local economic and nutritional resilience.

Three Support Pillars

Pillar 1 — Local Market System Coordination

Strengthening the relationships and information flows between farmers, buyers, processors, and humanitarian actors. Activities include:

Improving communication channels
Introducing appropriate digital tools for market access
Establishing localized, trusted information flows
Supporting linkages relevant to school feeding and community programs

Pillar 2 — Actor Capability Strengthening

Building the technical ability of farmers and processors to adapt to climate change and produce safer, more nutritious products. Focus areas:

Climate-smart agriculture practices
Community-level bio-inputs and sustainable soil management
Technical support for SMEs in value-added processing
Food safety and quality testing support through MILS laboratories

Pillar 3 — Local Market Access & Demand Generation

Connecting climate-smart farmers and local processors with new market opportunities, while improving community dietary diversity. Key themes:

Organizing local market linkage events
Strengthening connections with humanitarian procurement pathways
Raising awareness on nutritious, climate-resilient food options

Key Partners

Click to expand.

SUN Business Network (SBN Myanmar)

SBN Myanmar is a collaborative network uniting the private sector to tackle malnutrition. Co-convened by WFP, SBN Myanmar mobilizes the private sector to act, invest, and innovate in responsible business solutions to end malnutrition. By supporting local enterprises, the network aims to increase the availability, accessibility and affordability of safe, healthy and nutritious food for all communities in Myanmar.

World Food Programme (WFP)

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity. Globally, WFP and SBN collaborate closely, with WFP acting as a co-convener of the SBN to mobilize the private sector in the fight against malnutrition. This collaboration is currently active in 44 countries around the world.

Myanmar Innovative Life Sciences (MILS)

Myanmar Innovative Life Sciences (MILS) is an impact-driven social enterprise supporting farmers and food producers to improve product safety, quality, and nutritional value through science-based solutions. Established in 2012, MILS operates agri-food and soil testing laboratories, offers training on climate-smart agriculture, and provides food safety and quality related services to SMEs. MILS also supports processors in adopting safer, more efficient technologies and practices that enable value addition using climate-smart raw materials. With broad networks across farmers, SMEs, and development partners, MILS serves as the technical backbone of NOURISH’s implementation.

CSAID as Platform Host for Multistakeholder Collaboration

The Center for Sustainable Agri-Food Initiatives Development (CSAID) is a neutral, non-profit coordination platform dedicated to strengthening Myanmar’s agri-food systems through collaboration, innovation, and shared learning. CSAID brings together farmers, SMEs, civil society organizations, development partners, and private-sector actors to co-develop solutions that advance food safety, climate resilience, and sustainable market systems. Its neutrality and multi-stakeholder mandate make it a fitting home for initiatives like NOURISH, where inclusive visibility and balanced representation are essential.

Implementation Timeline

October 2025 – July 2026

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the pilot, it is expected: