Myanmar: 2 Million People at Risk of Starvation in Next Few Months, UN Report

Myanmar: 2 Million People at Risk of Starvation in Next Few Months, UN Report

Karen Faulkner,

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has warned that around 2 million people in war-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine state will be at risk of starvation by March-April 2025. Myanmar has been wracked by a bloody civil war between the Buddhist Tatmadaw military junta that wrested power in a 2021 coup and ethnoreligious forces that are resisting the army’s violent rule: the war has caused catastrophic conditions for many of Myanmar’s civilians.

While the chronically unstable country is reeling as a whole, Myanmar’s Rakhine state is on the brink of an “unprecedented disaster” brought on by several different crises, UNDP said in its November 7, 2024 report.

Basing its analysis on data gathered in 2023 and 2024, the UNDP reports: “Restrictions on goods entering Rakhine, both internationally and domestically, have led to a severe lack of income, hyperinflation, and significantly reduced domestic food production. Essential services and a social safety net are almost non-existent, leaving an already vulnerable population at risk of collapse in the coming months.”

“Critical sectors such as trade, agriculture, and construction are at a standstill. Export-oriented, agro-based livelihoods are disappearing as markets become inaccessible due to blockades,” the UNDP report continues.

“Rakhine faces the imminent threat of acute famine. Predictions indicate that by March-April 2025, domestic food production will only cover 20% of the population’s needs. Internal rice production is declining due to a lack of seeds, fertilizers, severe weather, and a rise in internally displaced people who can no longer farm. Combined with the near-total halt of trade, over 2 million people are at risk of starvation,” the UNDP report warns.