Myanmar: Farmers readied for monsoon planting season

World Vision has just this week started distributing the first of 900 MT of rice planting seeds, and dozens of hand tractors and tillers to 3,060 famers in advance of the monsoon ploughing season which is due to start at the end of this month.

Over the past year World Vision Myanmar has worked closely with WFP to ensure hard hit survivors of Cyclone Nargis have had the emergency food aid needed to see them through 12 months of food insecurity brought about by the destruction of the rice harvest by Cyclone Nargis and the reduced dry season harvest of November-December 2008.

During that time period World Vision reached 314,000 beneficiaries with WFP-provided food along with some food purchased by World Vision locally. Supplies provided included rice, beans, oil, salt and supplementary food for under fives and pregnant and lactating mothers.

Temesgen said: “The WFP provided food helped farmers survive for one year after their crops were destroyed and helped them focus on recovering their livelihoods.”

He said World Vision was now stepping in by providing rice planting seeds.

“We really hope that this will be a successful monsoon planting with crop yields approaching what they were prior to the cyclone. Many thousands of farmers are relying on these crops to ensure they can begin to rebuild their lives. A decent crop will give families a little extra money to help build stronger homes, get them out of debt and help ensure their children get to go to school.”

He said farmers did not typically have money to buy seed and it was essential that they received this assistance to help them get their feet on the ground. Farmers would also receive 71 hand tractors, 62 tillers, and 3,000 bags of gypsum to neutralize soil affected by salt water inundation following the cyclone.

WFP’s partnership with World Vision in providing emergency food assistance to Nargis-affected areas will continue until December, targeting 56,000 vulnerable individuals including landless and marginal farmers, who are at most risk from debt accumulation and asset loss.

Food distributions are tied into food for work, food for training and supplementary feeding for under-five children and for pregnant and lactating mothers. Work programmes include road and evacuation route renovations, water pond repairs, and other community development activities. Training activities includes health, sanitation and hygiene awareness-raising.

Now that the emergency assistance phase is over World Vision is focusing on helping a targeted 113,000 people with US$15 million in programming. These programmes will help communities rehabilitate their villages, and recover livelihoods. Key issues that will be addressed during the recovery phase include:

• Livelihoods: Agriculture recovery will include tool hand-outs, rice seed provision, skills building in fishing net making, boat building, sewing and weaving, animal husbandry and small business development aimed at the landless and marginalized farmers. Nine hundred fishing boats will be distributed July-September.
• Water, sanitation and hygiene: Development of ponds and wells for drinking and washing; toilet building; construction of gravity-fed water systems linking ponds to villages; and raising community and individual hygiene awareness.
• Child protection and education: School building, early childhood care and development; informal education; and awareness-raising of child rights.
• Disaster risk reduction: Establishing early warning systems, building disaster-proof schools and laying down evacuation routes; and training and awareness-raising of communities.

In the year since the cyclone World Vision, among other things:

• Distributed temporary shelter kits to 56,000 families
• Provided 247 fishing boats
• Cleaned 313 ponds and wells
• Supported 56 mobile health clinics
• Set up 108 Child Friendly Spaces for 17,000 children

Contact: James East, World Vision Communications Advisor Asia-Pacific: Cell - 0898121402