BURMA: WFP FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM REMAINS UNFUNDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000389 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, EEB, PRM DEPT PASS TO DEPT OF AGRICULTURE DEPT PASS TO USAID BANGKOK FOR USAID, USDA PACOM FOR FPA TREASURY FOR OASIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 TAGS: EAGR ECON EFIN PREL PGOV BM SUBJECT: BURMA: WFP FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM REMAINS UNFUNDED REF: RANGOON 178 RANGOON 00000389 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Economic Officer Samantha A. Carl-Yoder for Reasons 1.4 (b and d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The more than five million Burmese who live under the food poverty line rely on feeding programs run by the World Food Programme (WFP) and NGOs to survive. WFP's programs, which support vulnerable populations and marginalized ethnic groups in Northern Rakhine State, Chin State, Shan State, and Magwe Division, remain underfunded: WFP needs USD 9.26 million to continue feeding more than 1.6 million beneficiaries throughout the country. Based on an inquiry from PRM, WFP reiterates a request for USD 1.2 million in USG assistance to feed 125,000 Rohingya families. Embassy Rangoon strongly endorses that request to the extent USG funding is available. Please see action request in para ¶6. End Summary. Food Insecurity Remains -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Burma is a highly agrarian society, with more than 65 percent of the population involved in the agricultural sector. Agricultural contacts emphasize that Burma's overall production of basic foodstuffs -- rice, beans, and cereals - is more than enough to meet domestic need. However, GOB policies, including restrictions on internal food distribution and its emphasis on exporting food for profit, prevent sufficient domestically available food from reaching the more than five million Burmese who live below the food poverty line (Reftel). According to WFP, 52 of the 324 townships in Burma are highly vulnerable to food insecurity; most are located in Northern Rakhine State, Chin State, Shan State, and Magwe Division (the "dry zone"). WFP Underfunded -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Feeding programs, including those operated by WFP and international NGOs, are vital to the survival of Burma's most vulnerable populations, WFP Country Director Chris Kaye told us. However, many of these programs are substantially underfunded. Kaye emphasized that WFP continues to experience a significant shortfall in its ongoing Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO),which operates in Shan State, Chin State, Northern Rakhine State (NRS),Kachin State, and Magwe Division. WFP has sufficient resources to fund its program through August, but needs an additional USD 9.26 million to fund the remainder of the three-year program, which assists 1.6 million Burmese living under the food poverty line. Funding will be used to procure locally 13,500 metric tons of food, as well as to support food for education, food for work, and mother and child nutrition support programs. ¶4. (SBU) Kaye noted that WFP's Emergency Operations (EMOP), which provided vital food support to more than 1.1 million beneficiaries in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, will end in RANGOON 00000389 002.2 OF 002 December 2009. WFP has no plans to include these beneficiaries into the PRRO in 2010, he stated. (Note: Kaye was unwilling to discuss whether the urgent need for food will be resolved by 2010, instead noting that prior to Nargis, the Irrawaddy Delta was a self-sufficient producer of food. End Note.) Since the EMOP is fully funded, Kaye emphasized the need for donors to support programs such as agriculture, fisheries, and livelihoods development (including microfinance programs),which will enable the most vulnerable populations, particularly those living in the southernmost regions of the Irrawaddy Delta, to generate income and support themselves. These populations must be able to support themselves before the international community can withdraw; however, they need the tools to begin to do so. Action Request and Recommendation -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In March, WFP requested USD 1.2 million in USG assistance to support partially its food for education program in Northern Rakhine State, which feeds families of more than 125,000 students, freeing the students to attend school rather than work to support the family (Reftel). Based on emails from the Department, Embassy Rangoon conveyed to Kaye that while the USG understands the need in NRS, there was no funding available. ¶6. (SBU) During a June 24 meeting, Kaye told us that WFP Bangkok recently received from PRM an inquiry about unmet food needs in Burma with an eye toward possible funding. He stressed the importance of meeting the needs of vulnerable populations and reiterated WFP's request for USG assistance for its NRS program, which would significantly contribute to the stabilization of the food security situation there and help prevent further Rohingya outflows from Burma. Should funding become available, Embassy Rangoon strongly encourages the Department to fund WFP's request for USD 1.2 million -- or as much of that amount as may be available -- to assist the Rohingya population, one of the most vulnerable and persecuted ethnic groups in Burma. By providing food and thereby assisting children to receive an education, the USG would directly respond to what has become a regional Rohingya crisis by helping some of those who remain in Burma to have a somewhat more sustainable life. DINGER