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Rakhine State is one of the poorest states in Myanmar, with a poverty rate of 78%, according to the World Bank. About 90% of the state’s population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for their livelihoods. Of these, 60% are landless and either rely on sharecropping (a system of agricultural production where landowners allow farmers to use their land in exchange for a share of the crops produced) or renting land for their livelihoods. The population of Rakhine State is made up of many different ethnic and religious groups, a large proportion of whom have been displaced by the conflict. The conflict has also resulted in loss of life and livelihoods. FAO and the Government of Myanmar, with funding from the French Food Aid Fund (AAP), are working to strengthen the food security and livelihoods of the most vulnerable households affected by inter-community conflict in 20 villages in Sittwe, Mrauk-U and Minbai townships in northern Rakhine State. The project was further expanded and scaled up after Cyclone Komen hit the country in mid-2015, bringing heavy rains and flooding that caused severe damage to the agricultural sector, making these communities even more vulnerable.
Paving the way to recovery for families in Thakor
Like many rural communities in Myanmar, the 114 households in Thakor village depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The village is located in central Rakhine State, one of the six states worst affected by flooding caused by Cyclone Komen.
In this village alone, nearly a third of the houses were washed away and destroyed, livestock died, and most of the rice crop was destroyed. Although the rice crop was replanted immediately after the disaster, it was already past the growing season, resulting in a much smaller harvest than expected.
In addition, the floods destroyed large quantities of stored seeds, and farmers lost most of their livestock and were unable to cultivate their land. As a result, families are also worried that their winter vegetable crops will be two-thirds less than in a normal year.
Six months after the hurricane hit the area, nearly a fifth of the community’s farmland is still covered with logs. Farmers are making steady but slow progress in clearing their fields by cutting the logs by hand and using them as firewood.
Prior to Cyclone Koman, FAO, with support from the Government of France, had already been running a year-long project to improve food security and livelihoods in conflict-affected communities. Following the cyclone, FAO stepped up its efforts to assist an additional 32 affected families in Thakor.
With support from the French Food Aid Foundation, each household in the village received five laying hens. Village headman Maung Phyu Chay (36) said the assistance enabled the families to produce eggs for family consumption and improve protein intake, while the surplus could be sold or exchanged at the local market.
Daw Mah Taung Sein, 60, lives with her two daughters and two-year-old grandson. “Because of the floods, we have less food and life is difficult,” she said.
Her plan is to use the poultry to provide her family with nutritious eggs and to raise more chickens to sell at the local market. “At the market, a large chicken can fetch 10,000 kyat (about $7.70),” she said. She plans to use her earnings to buy enough rice to feed her family for at least another six months.
The project is part of FAO’s wider emergency programme in Myanmar, which also includes other projects in Sagaing, Chin and Rakhine States. FAO has appealed for $12.1 million to assist 332 750 people affected by conflict and flooding under the 2016 Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan.
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