Famine looming in Myanmar’s Rakhine state: UN

The United Nations issued a warning on Thursday that hunger is imminent in Myanmar’s war-torn Rakhine state as the nation’s civil war limits trade and agricultural output.

According to a recent UN Development Programme analysis, “Rakhine’s economy has stopped functioning,” and if current levels of food insecurity are not addressed, “famine conditions by mid-2025” are predicted.

According to the report, around two million people are in danger of famine.

Due to the ongoing conflict, both internal and international commerce routes have been shut down, drastically limiting the flow of aid and supplies into the already destitute state.

The UNDP report cautioned that in addition to the fierce conflict, residents of Rakhine are dealing with “absence of incomes, hyperinflation (and) significantly reduced domestic food production.”

Conflict between the military and different armed organisations opposing to its control has plagued Myanmar ever since the ruling junta overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratic government in February 2021.

Since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November 2023, breaking a ceasefire that had mainly lasted since the junta’s coup in 2021, fighting has erupted in western Rakhine.

The UNDP projected that by March or April, local food production would barely meet 20% of the state’s demands due to the agrarian economy’s problems.

The output of rice within the country is “plummeting,” according to the report, because of “a lack of seeds, fertilisers (and) severe weather conditions.”

According to the UNDP, Rakhine will grow about 97,000 tonnes of rice this year, up from 282,000 tonnes the previous year.

Meanwhile, a “steep rise” in internally displaced persons makes it impossible to labour in many fields.

UN data shows that in August 2023, there were over 500,000 displaced people in Rakhine state, whereas in October 2023, there were slightly under 200,000.

Populations that are particularly at risk include displaced persons and members of the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.