Cyclone Giri that hit Burma’s western coast on Oct. 22, destroyed nearly half the rice fields in Rakhine State, leaving about 260,000 people at risk of hunger for the next three months.
More than 97,125 hectares of farmland were ruined by the cyclone, which amounts to about half of all rice fields in western Rakhine State, the most severely affected area.
“The timing of the cyclone was very unlucky. The cyclone hit right at the moment [before the harvest] when farmers empty their coffers and put everything into the crops,” said Tesfai Ghermazien, the senior emergency coordinator of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Burma, according to IRIN news.
A report issued by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that of the 260,000 affected people, 200,000 are in need of the first distribution of 1,355 tons of rice. It is estimated that distribution will be completed by Nov. 20. The food will be given out during the following three months in the townships of Rakhine State that are worst hit, namely Myebon, Kyaukpyu, Minbya and Pauktaw.
U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF, intends on providing 15,000 children below 5 years old with vitamins and micronutrient sprinkles, and it will distribute vitamin B1 supplements to nearly 6,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women in the affected areas.
More than 97,125 hectares of farmland were ruined by the cyclone, which amounts to about half of all rice fields in western Rakhine State, the most severely affected area.
“The timing of the cyclone was very unlucky. The cyclone hit right at the moment [before the harvest] when farmers empty their coffers and put everything into the crops,” said Tesfai Ghermazien, the senior emergency coordinator of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Burma, according to IRIN news.
A report issued by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that of the 260,000 affected people, 200,000 are in need of the first distribution of 1,355 tons of rice. It is estimated that distribution will be completed by Nov. 20. The food will be given out during the following three months in the townships of Rakhine State that are worst hit, namely Myebon, Kyaukpyu, Minbya and Pauktaw.
U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF, intends on providing 15,000 children below 5 years old with vitamins and micronutrient sprinkles, and it will distribute vitamin B1 supplements to nearly 6,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women in the affected areas.
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