Amid tough times for agriculture in general, IDP farmers lament uniquely challenging circumstances

By DMG 03 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
3 July 2022, Sittwe

Farmers in Arakan State displaced by past fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military say they have been unable to farm for up to three years, and are suffering numerous hardships.

Most of the farmers who fled from Rathedaung and Kyauktaw townships have not been able to return to their homes and could not cultivate their land at all, according to the Arakan Farmers’ Union.

Farmers are unable to return home and plough their farmlands for, among other reasons, fear of Myanmar military troops still stationed near their villages, and because local authorities have failed to rebuild conflict-damaged homes and clear landmines, which plague large swaths of rural Arakan State.

“We dare not go to the village and there are no [habitable] houses in the village,” said U Kyaw Thein, a resident of Hteeswel village who is currently taking shelter at Gutarpyin camp for internally displaced people (IDPs). “We don’t know the fate of cattle and paddy left in the village. We have been unable to farm for three years and have been sheltering at the displacement camp.”

Some IDP farmers live in the IDP camps and return to their villages during the day, but often only a small part of the land they own is cultivated due to the constraints of their circumstances.

Rising input costs are also curtailing IDP farmers’ ability to cultivate, said U Than Maung, a local farmer from Kyauktan village who is currently taking refuge at Dhammayon IDP camp in Rathedaung Township.

“I am engaged in the farming business on a manageable scale to feed my family,” he said. “I return to my village during the daytime to plough my farmlands. I hire a tractor to plough my farmlands because I have no cattle. Living in a displacement camp is not easy for us.”

The government needs to act as soon as possible so that farmers can return to farming, said U Maung Tun Nyunt, an IDP from Theintaung IDP camp in Kyauktaw Township.

“We are struggling to make ends meet at the displacement camp. I don’t know when I will be allowed to return home. I want to be able to cultivate the remaining fields in the village,” he said. “We cannot even give our children full access to education. We want to return home as soon as possible because we have lost all of our economic, educational and social opportunities.”

U Kyaw Zan, chairman of the Arakan Farmers’ Union, lamented what he described as an under-performing local government.

“We don’t believe the government can help the agricultural market recover,” he said. “The local governments in mainland Myanmar are helping farmers in every way. In Arakan State, the government does little to help farmers. Therefore, there is less development of agriculture.”