Rice shortages worsen in Taungup as prices soar

By Admin 19 Oct 2026

DMG Newsroom

19 October 2026, Taungup

Taungup Township in Arakan State is facing severe rice shortages, affecting the livelihoods of local residents and internally displaced people (IDPs), according to locals and relief workers.

Residents in rural villages across Taungup Township are struggling to buy sufficient rice. In several villages, local authorities have banned the sale or transfer of rice intended for donation to IDPs or neighbouring communities.

Relief workers said rice mills in Taungup Township now require advance orders and sell rice only in strictly limited quantities, making it increasingly difficult to provide emergency food assistance to displaced people.

“Rice has become extremely scarce,” said an aid worker assisting IDPs. “If we want to donate rice, we have to place orders at three or four different rice mills. Some mills have run completely out of stock. Supplies have been exhausted in certain areas. We can only purchase rice by ordering well in advance.”

Taungup Township has become a major refuge for thousands of displaced people fleeing conflict in neighbouring Kyaukphyu and Thandwe townships.

Several village authorities in Taungup Township have also prohibited the sale of locally produced paddy and rice to other villages in an effort to maintain food reserves within their own communities.

A bag of low-grade rice containing just 32 pyi currently costs between K150,000 and K160,000 in Taungup Township. Amid continued threats from airstrikes, displaced families and low-income residents face an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis.

“Displaced people and low-income families are finding it extremely difficult to survive,” said a local man in Taungup. “IDPs face the greatest hardship. With no jobs available, foraging for wild vegetables or fishing is far from enough to feed a family. Soaring rice prices make the crisis much worse. It has become difficult to secure even regular daily meals.”

The military junta launched heavy airstrikes on Taungup Township on October 6 and 14. IDPs sheltering near Lonetawpauk Village in the township have been forced to flee again to safer areas to escape the ongoing bombardment.

Ongoing conflict across Arakan State has disrupted farming, sharply reducing paddy cultivation and causing severe shortages that have driven local paddy and rice prices to record highs.