MYANMAR: Farmers, fishermen still reeling from October cyclone

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RAKHINE STATE, 28 December 2010 (IRIN) - Farmers and fishermen in western parts of Myanmar hit by Cyclone Giri in October are struggling as they lack the basic equipment they need to earn a living, and help is slow to arrive. "I have no seeds to grow, no buffalo to plough, no money to hire day-labourers to work in my fields," said Ba Tin, 36, who lost his entire rice paddy crop (on 2.4 hectares) and two buffaloes to the category four storm which struck four townships of Rakhine State on 22 October, killing 45 and affecting another 250,000 people. In a village a five-hour boat ride from Tin's, fisherman Oo Thein is wondering how he can make a living without his boat and fishing net lost in the storm. Farming and fishing are this region's primary sources of income. In affected parts of Rakhine State, up to 60 percent of households listed farming, and 10-27 percent fishing, as their main sources of income, according to UN Development Programme. “So far, the livelihoods response has been extremely modest due to lack of funding received for this sector,” according to a recent assessment by UN agencies and NGOs, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),which are working with the government to revive livelihoods. Of the total US$53 million needed to assist the Giri-affected population, less than half, or $21 million, has been received thus far. Less than $500,000 of these funds are earmarked for the restoration of livelihoods, which is half the estimated need. “If the [Cyclone Nargis-affected] Delta is any indication,” warned Myanmar's senior emergency coordinator with FAO, Tesfai Ghermazien, “they [farmers and fishermen] may fall into a spiralling level of indebtedness unless they are assisted in full, and in a timely manner.” Cyclone's impact The disaster caused substantial damage to paddy fields, farming equipment and fish and shrimp ponds. It completely destroyed 30,000 hectares (ha) of paddy fields and partially damaged another 68,000 ha, causing the loss of 112,538 tons of rice in the process. This would have been enough to feed 474,000 people for a year, according to FAO. It also destroyed 736 fishing boats and 1,211 sets of fishing gear, and adversely affected 7,500 small fishing households. Importantly, the cyclone also wiped out the network of dykes and embankments which protect villages, paddy fields, fish and shrimp ponds; and as the cyclone hit right before the annual November-early December harvest, farmers lost their rice in the final growing stages. [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91023 ] "In addition to not having enough food to feed their own households, the anxiety they [farmers] are facing is due to not knowing whether or not they will be able to cultivate their land in the 2011 monsoon season," said FAO’s Ghermazien. Next steps Cash-for-work programmes need to be carried out intensively between January and April 2011 with a focus on immediate job creation, since there are no jobs and there is a “huge” need to repair the embankments, according to FAO. Once repaired, this community-owned infrastructure will ensure more effective subsequent livelihood interventions, it believes. Simultaneously, fishermen, animal breeders and small vendors need assets and cash to restart their livelihoods, so that they can earn money for food while they wait for the next planting season in April 2011, FAO said. In the cyclone-affected area, 60-80 percent of rural households claimed as their "secondary livelihoods" small livestock rearing. The storm killed some 200 animals, including buffalos and cattle, according to a November damage assessment. [ http://www.themimu.info/SectorCluster/Coordination/101105_OCHA_Emergency_Situation_Report_Cyclone_GIRI_Oct_2010_6.pdf ] tt/pt/cb © IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org