Myanmar, a socialist country with a distinct political set-up began a nationwide programme to intensify rice production through the expansion of irrigation facilities and use of modern technology in the early 1990s. This paper assesses the impacts of recent government initiatives on income distribution and poverty under two varying ecosystems, irrigated and rainfed, based on an intensive household survey in four villages during 1996. Major findings indicate that the recent government's policy on the promotion of modern rice technology and irrigation did not increase household income due to farmers' inability to cope with the economic and technical demands of the new rice-based technologies. The study also identifies household size, education and higher proportion of female members in the household as major factors that affected poverty. Finally, the paper suggests strategies and policy reforms to help reduce income inequality and poverty in rural Myanmar.
