Cyclone Nargis update:
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, sweeping through the Ayeyarwady delta region and directly hitting the country's capital and largest city, Yangon. The combined population of the declared disaster areas is around 13 million (out of a total estimated Myanmar population of 52.5 million).
The Ayeyarwady Division, which bore the brunt of the storm, is known as the country's granary and has an extensive fishery industry. Almost all fertile agricultural land was inundated with salty water and will require significant time to return to normal. The hardest hit villages saw families lose all their farming assets, together with their houses and food stores for the rest of the year. The affected poor families will be without the capital to purchase seeds and other agricultural inputs, tools and livestock.
Of the at least 1.5 million people severely affected by the cyclone, WFP plans to provide urgent food assistance to 750,000 with a complete food basket for a period of six months.
Because of limited access to the affected areas, the scale of WFP's response in the immediate days following the cyclone has been severely constrained.
WFP provides relief and recovery support to vulnerable families in Myanmar. The relief-recovery effort focuses on the areas of Northern Rakhine State, the Central Dry Zone and Shan State. Northern Rakhine State is separated from the rest of the country by mountains in the east. Its inhabitants share close ethnic and cultural links with neighbouring Bangladesh. Many of these families are landless casual labourers with limited employment opportunities due to restrictions on movement. Access to food is a year-round problem. The Central Dry Zone is considered one of the poorest and most backward areas of the country. Its chronic food deficit is aggravated by a weak infrastructure, harsh climate, inadequate farming inputs and lack of access to land. Opium was the main source of livelihood for many decades for many inhabitants of Shan State. The Government’s decision to eradicate opium has pushed a majority of the households into chronic poverty and adversely affected their food security.
Local policies that impede free movement of people and food commodities in certain ‘sensitive’ areas
Regional production disparities: Myanmar is a surplus producer of rice on a national basis, but of its 14 States and Divisions many are in deficit, requiring a smooth flow of rice from surplus to deficit areas
Internal distribution: impediments to the movement of food from the food surplus to food deficit areas causes price rises, food shortages and general increased vulnerability
Natural causes: drought, floods, pest infestation, limited agricultural and financial inputs
WFP Activities
WFP seeks to help (i) to sustain household food security by covering the food gap of the most vulnerable food-insecure families in restricted and marginalised resource-poor areas; (ii) to maintain satisfactory nutritional status among children and mothers; (iii) to contribute to improved food security through activities such as food-for-work and food-for-training aimed at building community capacities; and, (iv) to improve children’s education through increased enrolment and attendance in primary schools. WFP’s main operational challenge stems from the fact of moving food commodities from surplus areas to restricted areas – something which requires a multitude of permits and clearances, and these restricted areas suffer from food insecurity due to the tight controls imposed by the central authorities.
Overview
