Yangon, Myanmar – The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today announced that it has successfully delivered emergency assistance to more than six thousand rural households across Rakhine State, a region of Myanmar where nearly half the population is engaged in the agriculture sector.

In order to avoid food insecurity and improve self-sufficiency following two years of flooding and inter-communal violence, more than 26 000 farmers have received some 200 tonnes of high quality seeds and more than 500 tonnes of fertilizer.

According to the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Myanmar, Rakhine is a home to an estimated 260 000 people that will remain in need of food security assistance this year.

Ms Xiaojie Fan, FAO Representative in Myanmar, expressed deep concern about the situation of Rakhine’s rural population, particularly their low capacities to withstand shocks and crises, which often lead to reliance on food aid. The FAO Representative also called for urgent action to support farmers who continue to suffer from the combination of poverty, prolonged inter-communal violence and the negative effects of natural disasters.

“Thanks to funding by the Government of Japan, this distribution is making a real difference in securing self-sufficiency for farming families in this area of Myanmar,” Ms Xiaojie Fan added.

The high quality crop seeds delivered, include paddy, cowpea, groundnut and black gram. This distribution mainly targeted communities affected by the 2015 and 2016 floods and inter-ethnic violence across five townships, namely Buthidaung, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Ponnagyun. In line with the beneficiary selection criteria that identified the most vulnerable individuals, FAO assisted the Rakhine community as well as the Muslim minority.

Subsequently, selected beneficiaries have been provided with more than 5 000  sets of tools and vegetable kits, containingwhite radish, yard long bean, and bitter gourd seeds.

As well as targeting farmers with distribution of agricultural kits, communities in Rakhine have also benefitted from livestock restocking (chickens, piglets or goats) and complementary animal feed and vaccines. 

Winter crop provisions helped to decrease farmers’ dependency on monsoon cultivation while increasing access to food throughout the year. Meanwhile, the distributed livestock provided farmers with a supplementary source of income and improved access to a balanced diet containing high quality animal proteins.

“Regardless of all the support provided, current estimates suggest tens of thousands of people are in need of food security assistance. There is an urgent need to continue agriculture-based livelihood interventions as they are critical to reduce these figures. Even small investments in the agriculture sector can bring long-term impacts on the lives of rural populations,” said Mr Andrea Berloffa, FAO Senior Emergency Coordinator. “In addition, considering the fragile situation in Rakhine, these interventions can be an important contribution to support social cohesion, stability and peace.”

The provided support is a component of a one-year project funded by the Government of Japan. The project aims to mainstream resilience into livelihood activities to ensure rural communities are better equipped to cope with future disasters. Implemented in Rakhine and Chin States, the project targets a total of 50 000 people and will end in March 2017.

Despite significant progress in reaching vulnerable communities with critical livelihood and resilience building interventions (agriculture support, income generating activities and asset creation) across Myanmar, FAO is seeking an additional US$ 5.1 million in funding that will  help it reach 87 000 additional farmers at risk of food insecurity.

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FAO in Emergencies: Myanmar http://www.fao.org/emergencies/countries/detail/en/c/326208/