BURMA: CONTINUING FOOD INSECURITY IN CHIN STATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000056 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, INR/EAP DEPT PASS TO USDA DEPT PASS TO USAID PACOM FOR FPA TREASURY FOR OASIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2019 TAGS: EAGR ECON EFIN PREL PGOV BM SUBJECT: BURMA: CONTINUING FOOD INSECURITY IN CHIN STATE REF: 08 RANGOON 879 RANGOON 00000056 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Economic Officer Samantha A. Carl-Yoder for Reasons 1.4 (b and d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The food insecurity situation in Northern Chin State, where a rat infestation continues to destroy crops, has marginally improved, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). WFP and its partners in December launched a food-for-work program in 50 villages in Chin State, assisting more than half of the affected households. WFP, which has received assistance from the UK, Denmark, and the European Community, will need additional funds to continue providing food to the more than 70,000 Chin facing food shortages. WFP plans to conduct a food assessment in February/March to update the situation on the ground. End Summary. Assistance Arriving in Chin State -------------- ¶2. (C) According to initial assessments conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),WFP, and implementing partners, approximately 70,000 people in 129 villages in Northern Chin State have been affected by a burgeoning rat population that destroys crops while feasting on a type of bamboo flower that blooms every 50 years. Food security is a persistent problem in Chin State, which has a limited infrastructure and limited agricultural production, WFP Director Chris Kaye told us. The rat problem only exacerbates the situation; however WFP has no evidence of famine-like conditions or famine-related deaths in Northern Chin State, despite media reports (Reftel). ¶3. (C) In December, using funds from its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRRO) and additional donations from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Government of Denmark, WFP and its implementing partners began providing food assistance to 50 villages in Northern Chin State. Approximately 6,360 households of the 11,833 affected now receive some assistance, Kaye told us. WFP, responding to community leaders' negative experiences with direct food transfers (reftel),instead created a food-for-work program, which helps beneficiaries improve their productive assets (such as land development and construction of infrastructure) in exchange for food supplies. In the past, WFP had a Food-For-Education program in Chin State, but was forced to abandon it due to funding deficiencies. Currently, WFP has no plans to resume that program in Chin State, Kaye told us. ¶4. (C) In addition to providing food, WFP and its partners plan to help affected townships improve both crop production and infrastructure, which should improve food security in the long term. Using DFID and European Community funds, WFP will work with four townships (Tiddim, Falam, Hakha, and Htantlang) to create 155 acres of terraced land, benefitting close to 2,000 people in 17 villages. Additionally, WFP will use funds to construct more than 80 miles of road, improving connectivity among village tracts and expanding the communities' access to food and water. ¶5. (SBU) WFP, using the information in the November FAO/WFP Food and Crop Survey, will conduct additional assessments of the situation in Chin State. Kaye pledged to keep donors apprised of the situation and noted it is likely WFP will ask RANGOON 00000056 002.2 OF 002 donors to contribute more to the PRRO. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) WFP continues to be concerned about food insecurity in Chin State, as well as in Northern Rakhine State and Shan State. During the UN Donors Meeting on January 27, FAO and WFP revealed that Burma's overall food production in 2008-2009 should meet local needs, and that Cyclone Nargis did not greatly affect rice production. The problem, however, is not overall production levels, but rather access to food in places where local production does not meet the community's needs. The Government of Burma continues to strictly control the movement of food, particularly rice, between states and divisions, forcing the malnourished in certain areas to forage to survive. The rice sector is one of the few agricultural sectors that the GOB refuses to liberalize. We do not see that policy changing any time soon because the political importance of rice and rice prices. Until the GOB liberalizes the agricultural sector, there will continue to be demand for WFP food assistance in places such as Chin State. DINGER