WFP Myanmar Situation Report, 7 August 2015

Situation Update

• According to the Government as well as interagency and WFP individual needs assessments, more than 322,000 people have been affected by severe floods and landslides in 12 states/regions of Myanmar: Ayeyarwady, Bago, Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Mandalay, Magway, Mon, Rakhine, Sagaing, Shan and Yangon.
• The declaration by the President of the worst affected states/regions of Chin, Magway, Rakhine and Sagaing as natural disaster zones has remained in place since 31 July.
• The Government, supported by the U.N., civil society organizations, NGOs and private sector, has led the response, which includes provision of food and other non-food relief assistance.
• On 4 August, the Government formally welcomed international humanitarian assistance. Priority needs include food, water and sanitation, access to health care, and provision/repair of shelter.
• Floods have inundated more than one million acres of farmland. Damage to crops and arable land will further exacerbate the food security situation in the country, which already has one of the highest undernutrition rates in the region.
• There are reports of increased rice prices in Chin due to the flooded paddy fields, damaged food stocks and obstructed transportation routes. Rice export has been halted until mid-September.
• It is expected that the delta region in the lower Myanmar will experience flooding in some threefive days due to the overflow water released from dams upriver in Sagaing Region.