For most farmers, the dry season of 2009 is the season to cover for last year’s losses due to Cyclone Nargis. Good yield is bound to happen as the weather is stable and access to water is available. However, for those residing in the most affected areas, such as Bogalay, hope is vanishing as a pest – the brown plant hopper - infested the area. In spite of this, a collaborative program between Church World Service and International Development Enterprise in Myanmar will further address the plight of impoverished farmers in Myanmar (Burma).

Loosing but Recovering
U Hla Nyunt used to own a betel tree farm. After Cyclone Nargis destroyed it, he could not afford to recover the betel tree farm he lost and decided to shift to rice crop. During the last monsoon season of June-October 2008, his lowlying field only rewarded him with 45 baskets of rice.

During the last dry season of December-May 2009, from five baskets of summer paddy seeds that he broadcasted in his 4 acres of land, he expected 240 baskets of harvest; around 20 percent less compared to last year's dry season harvest. As an effort to thrive on with life, he turned to animal breeding to replace the betel farm that used to provide his daily bread.

The story of U Hla Nyunt illustrates that the disaster-affected farmers of the Delta of Irrawaddy explored creative ways and combined activities to meet their needs and recover their losses. They diversified their income, decided to do other activities, asked help from relatives and friends, and even resorted to borrow money. They have a tremendous coping and adaptive behavior, which lead to flexible livelihood strategies that slowly helped them to survive.

Cyclone Nargis has cost Ko Htay Min food rice stock, a house, household equipments, and around USD 300 cash savings. “I only had my dress and Buddha image with me,” the farmer in his 30s said.
His relative in Yangon gave him food and clothes. He managed to build a temporary shelter, where his family of five has been living since the aftermath of the disaster.

Shortly after Nargis, the father of three decided to work on 5 acres of land with monsoon paddy; some parts belonged to another farmer and his own father. Htay Min also asks the landowner for two baskets of seeds. As Htay Min was not formally registered as farmer, the emergency program registered him as a landless laborer. He received food rice from CWS and its partner that he says greatly helped his family. The young farmer proceeded with broadcasting paddy seeds on his 5 acres of borrowed land.

Hope was arising for Htay Min as he was able to borrow land, seeds and some farming inputs. However, shortly before harvest two kinds of infestations hit his field: rice blast and army worm pests. These infestations have steeply cut his expected dry season yield, from 350 baskets to only 116 baskets. He was relentless. While most farmers preferred to delay selling their rice because of low prices, Htay Min had no choice and sold his yield. After securing enough paddy seeds for dry season of 2009, the sale of his remaining yield earned him around USD 189.

As a landless farmer, he could only secure a very thin amount of farming inputs but that did not stop him from trying. The creek near his land raised his confidence that water availability would help him thrive. He expected to earn less than 120 baskets per acre in May 2009.

“The Second Nargis”
Despite the meager amount of harvest, it means a lot for Htay Min’s family, especially with three children at school. Sadly, all hopes were lost when the brown plant hopper made its move into his farm. Htay Min just experienced what he calls the “second Nargis.” He did not know brown plant hoppers were ravaging his field as he has never seen the pests before. Living on the water surface, the pests climb paddy plants at night and hop from one plant to another. IDE provided sprayer and insecticides to Htay Min and taught him how to use it. The prompt rescue enabled him to salvage around 110-165 baskets of rice. From the remaining infested area, he thinks he could still recover 80 baskets.

Plaguing Debt
Debt is a vicious cycle that ties the hands of subsistence farmers. With a monthly interest rate of 8 percent, unpaid debts from previous seasons and the series of losses, Htay Min is buried deep in debt: around USD 9,000. He is hopeless when detailing his debt. His loan shark has not asked for his debt. He didn’t have any idea how much interest he had to pay. He could only hope for the loan shark to reduce the interest. Despite all these, he was determined to return the debts as soon as he has cash in hand. Many farmers mortgaged their assets such as a family house, land and jewelries to obtain hard cash and purchase farming inputs for summer paddy. The average interest is tagged at 8 percent each month.

CWS and IDE continue a commitment to assist the destitute farmers through an innovative initiative that aims at improving the quality of life of the Nargis-affected community through improving access to markets, increasing agricultural outputs and increasing employment.