Bamboo market faces conflict-related downturn in Arakan State

By Admin 17 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
17 October 2024, Sittwe

The price of bamboo in Arakan State has been increasing this year, but there are few buyers due to the conflict between Myanmar's military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA), with the bamboo market described as nonoptimal and slumping.

A lack of agricultural and livestock-rearing activities in Arakan State, coupled with the food shortage crisis afflicting the state, has led to an increase in the number of people harvesting bamboo as a small-scale means of livelihood, and the industry is facing market inefficiencies as a result.

Bamboo stockpiles are stuck in the hands of bamboo merchants as bamboo in Arakan State is not able to be sold freely to mainland Myanmar under the current security environment, which includes restrictions imposed by the regime on the movement of most goods.

"We cannot export bamboo to mainland Myanmar and most townships in Arakan State due to travel restrictions and fewer buyers," said a bamboo merchant in Kyauktaw Township.

Due to the livelihood difficulties of internally displaced people (IDPs), more and more people are cutting down bamboo to make a living, so it is not being sold at bamboo wholesale centres.

"People who make a living by cutting down bamboo face livelihood hardships. We will be able to create job opportunities for local people only if the bamboo industry thrives," said a female bamboo wholesale centre owner in Mrauk-U.

In pre-conflict times, bamboo from Arakan State was reliably shipped to mainland Myanmar and exported to Bangladesh, but those avenues of commerce have been cut off by the ongoing conflict and attendant restrictions on the trade.

Bamboo is primarily produced for commercial sale in Arakan State's Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Ann and Taungup townships.