Rebuilding livelihoods
When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, hundreds of thousands of farmers lost their homes and livelihoods. Oxfam's local partner, IDE, has been providing support to some of those who have been worst affected.
Ko Lin Lin and Ma Thida's story
Five years ago Ko Lin Lin and Ma Thida borrowed $250 to buy five acres of paddy field in Myanmar’s ‘rice-bowl’ - a large debt for a somebody in a country where the average income is about a dollar a day. But five acres was just enough for Ko Lin Lin and Ma Thida to grow rice for themselves with a bit left over to sell so they could buy other household necessities and pay off the debt.
When Cyclone Nargis struck, Ko Lin Lin’s family’s house was destroyed and his possessions scattered. Fortunately he and his wife and their five-year old son survived, but their paddy fields - their livelihood - were inundated with seawater, and all of the rice seed that they had saved for the next planting season was destroyed.
Helping farmers start again
Since the cyclone, IDE, one of Oxfam’s partners in Myanmar, has been supplying rice seed to farmers in the delta. IDE always make sure that the rice seed they provide is appropriate - it has a very high germination rate and can be planted in the wet and dry seasons. IDE know this because they test all of their varieties in their Yangon headquarters.
Others farmers have lost the draught animals they relied on to prepare and plant their fields, as well as providing fertiliser. The UN estimates that over 120,000 draught animals were killed in Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions alone. Many more animals are sick or injured and not able to be used in the current planting season.
IDE are providing tilling machines and diesel to hundreds of farmers, often as part of a complete agricultural recovery package that includes fertiliser and technical know-how where it is needed. IDE work directly with villagers living in farming communities, so they are able to directly respond to the needs of farmers, and they know that their help is going where it is most needed.
So far IDE have already provided over 500 tillers and supported farmers in over 700 villages, but more is needed. Funds are required urgently to allow IDE to continue this vital work in helping people recover their livelihoods.
Learn more
- Further information about the Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone
Make a donation
Donate to Oxfam's Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Appeal
