NOURISH Myanmar: Resilient Local Market Systems for Climate-Smart and Nutrition-Smart Communities

Dec 12, 2025
4 min read

Updated: May 21

A trust-centered multi-stakeholder approach for expanding smallholder access to agricultural innovation

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.

The initiative focuses on strengthening local market systems by improving smallholder access to agricultural innovations through trust-based approaches, promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, and improving community access to safe, nutritious food across Myanmar’s shifting agri-food landscape.

NOURISH supports smallholder farmers, processors, and local communities to improve livelihoods, strengthen food and nutrition security, and build long-term resilience under conditions of climate, economic, and social uncertainty.

At its core, NOURISH applies a “Trust as Infrastructure” approach — recognizing that resilient food systems depend not only on physical inputs and markets, but also on trusted relationships, information flows, coordination mechanisms, and inclusive 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 nutrition deficiencies and deepening socio-economic vulnerability among households.

In this context, agricultural innovation has become 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 enhances the local capabilities but also reinforces trusted relationships, coordination pathways, and information flows between smallholder 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 resilience by expanding smallholder access to climate-smart agricultural innovations, strengthening market coordination, and improving access to safe and nutritious food for vulnerable communities.

Strategic Objectives

Strengthen smallholder access to climate-smart agricultural practices, inputs, knowledge, and market opportunities.
Improve coordination and trusted relationships between farmers, buyers, processors, financial actors, and humanitarian stakeholders.
Support localized food systems that improve food safety, nutrition security, and community resilience.
Promote inclusive and sustainable market pathways that connect local production with institutional and humanitarian demand.

Target Areas & Beneficiaries

Geographic Focus: Southern Shan State and South-East Myanmar

Beneficiary Groups:

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

NOURISH Myanmar prioritizes vulnerable rural communities while strengthening local economic resilience, food security, and nutrition outcomes through trust-based, localized market-system approaches.

Three Strategic Pillars

Pillar 1 — Trust Infrastructure & Market Coordination

Strengthening coordination, trusted relationships, and information flows between farmers, buyers, processors, financial actors, and humanitarian stakeholders to improve visibility, reliability, and participation across local food systems.

The pillar leverages localized coordination mechanisms, appropriate digital tools, and periodic coordination pulse approaches to strengthen trusted market linkages and adaptive decision-making across the agri-food system.

Key Areas

Improving communication and coordination channels
Introducing appropriate digital tools for market access and information sharing
Establishing localized and trusted information flows
Strengthening supply-and-demand coordination between farmers and market actors
Supporting linkages connected to school feeding and community programs

Pillar 2 — Local Capability & Climate Resilience

Strengthening the technical capabilities of farmers and local processors to adapt to climate change, improve productivity, and produce safer and more nutritious food products.

Key Areas

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

Pillar 3 — Market Access & Nutrition Pathways

Connecting climate-smart farmers and local processors to inclusive market opportunities while strengthening community access to nutritious and climate-resilient foods.

Key Areas

Organizing local market linkage and matchmaking events
Strengthening connections with institutional and humanitarian procurement pathways
Raising awareness of nutritious and climate-resilient food options

Key Partners

Click to expand.

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.

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.

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 – October 2026

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the pilot phase, NOURISH aims to contribute to:

Stronger coordination and information flows between farmers, buyers, processors, and market actors
Increased adoption of climate-smart and resilient agricultural practices
Improved local value addition and market participation for farmers and MSMEs
Increased availability and circulation of safer and more nutritious foods within communities
Stronger institutional and community linkages, including school meal and humanitarian procurement pathways
Improved dietary diversity and nutrition awareness in targeted communities