Using rural friendly Eco Stove effectively
21/03/2022
"This eco-stove is easy to cook and works with a small amount of firewood. It is also safe from fire. It is lightweight and easy to carry around. It needs less firewood and significantly reduces the usage of firewood, compared to my old open fire stove," said Daw Aye Aye Myint, a villager from Thit Poke Kone village in Labutta township.
A total of twenty community forest demonstrations established under the Sustainable Cropland and Forest Management in Priority Agro-ecosystems of Myanmar (SLM project) have become operational since 2020. The SLM project continues its support to the households of community forest user groups (CFUGs), such as the provision of nursery construction materials and personal safety equipment and tools in Delta and tree seedlings in Central Dry Zone and Chin Hills. To strengthen the operational capacity of CFUGs and improve the adoption of sustainable forest management practices, the project distributed eco stoves, ultra-durable wood stoves that last for years in rural environments. She also received an eco-stove and has been using it for nine months.
She has two daughters, one is 13, and the other is 11. Her husband mainly works on mud crab farming. "My husband catches the crabs, and I tie the crabs to sell. We are landless and also work as casual labor on plantations and harvest on other people's farms" explained Daw Aye Aye Myint about their jobs. Because their incomes are not regular, they need to work as casual laborers.
Her husband is one of the CFUG members, and she received an eco stove. Most of the people in this area use the open fire stove, which is made of three big bricks. And it consumes a lot of firewood. "My house is a wooden house, and we always need to worry about the fire starting from the open fire stove. Since we switched to this eco-stove, things get much better, easier, and safer. It uses less firewood and works in strong winds. It is also lightweight and easy to carry. If there is a sick person in my neighborhood who can't stand the cooking smell, we can move the stove to another place easily. Even my children can use it to help us when we have no time to cook. I don't dare ask them to use the local stove," she shared her experience with the stove.
They are poor and usually collect firewood in the mangrove forest. They need three boatloads of firewood every month for cooking. Currently, they use both an eco-stove and a local open fire stove. "These days, commodity prices are getting higher than before. If this eco-stove is damaged, we cannot afford a new one, and the cash is reserved for buying food. To get a longer lifespan of the eco stove, we have to use both stoves in rotation. The longer we can use the eco stove, the lesser firewood we will need, which will reduce the harvesting of firewood in the mangrove forest. The lesser we harvest, the better the mangrove forest," said Daw Aye Aye Myint. Her neighbor villagers are also interested in using this kind of eco-stove to reduce firewood usage.
The project first distributed a total of 2 325 eco-stoves in 2020 at Labutta, Nyaung-U, and Kyaukpadaung townships. The second distribution of 3 900 eco stoves was made in 2021, Bogalay township was included. The SLM's assessment of the first distribution of these eco stoves indicates that the beneficiary households are highly satisfied with its fuel efficiency, durability, easiness to use, and subsequent benefits of reducing Greenhouse gas emissions. Some households using the eco stove regularly reported that they could reduce up to 75% of monthly fuelwood consumption. They also think that greater use of these fuel-efficient eco-stoves will also help them to reduce dependency on the forest for fuel. More households in these villages are interested to use it as they become aware of climatic benefits and contributions to reducing forest degradation and improving their daily livelihoods.
Taking steps to protect agricultural production and livelihoods in Rakhine State
27/12/2021
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with the support of the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund, has provided cash assistance to 1 200 farming families in at-risk villages across Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships in Rakhine State. Each of these farming households received USD 57.8 (MMK 105 000) to meet their immediate food needs and other household expenses. Landless seasonal workers and female-headed households also benefited from the intervention. Together with the cash grant, FAO provided 500 families with fertilizer, rice, vegetable seeds, a basic nutrition guide and training on good farming practices. In addition, to mitigate the risk of transmission of COVID-19, FAO provided informational materials, hygiene items and personal protective gear to all households who benefited from the project.
Sustained armed conflict in Rakhine State, particularly after 2017, has resulted in inadequate access to land, credit, agricultural inputs, machinery, and post-harvest storage facilities. Consequently, agricultural production has been constrained the state. This has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic instability following the February 2021 military coup, which continues to worsen the food security situation across the country. Moreover, extreme weather events, such as heavy rains and floods, continue to put agricultural production and productivity at risk, which has led to reduced job opportunities in the agriculture sector.
Daw Khin May, 32 years old, lives in Done Chaung Village, Buthidaung Township with her two children and husband, who is a casual labourer that benefited from FAO’s support. Life has been difficult for this family of four since the start of the pandemic, as they have not had a reliable source of income. She enthusiastically expressed her gratitude for the support her family received, which was critical during the pandemic in which there were severe job shortages.
Since 2007, multiple strains of Gs/GD/96-lineage H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus have entered Myanmar and caused reported outbreaks. The country is at risk for zoonotic avian influenza A (H7N9) virus incursion. Furthermore, active surveillance in live bird markets regularly detects H5N1 and H5N6 HPAI viruses and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H9N2 viruses.
In 2018, heavy monsoon rains in July brought floods to many states and regions in central and south-eastern parts of Myanmar. According to the official statements, at least 22 people died and more than 155 000 people were displaced by this natural disaster at present year.
In conflict-affected areas of northern Rakhine, malnutrition rates are high and protein consumption low. In the townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, where Warcha is located, the percentage of children consuming the minimum acceptable diet is alarmingly low, at two and three per cent respectively.
"Now we are receiving FAO assistance with goats, we will be able to generate more income. With the extra income we will use the money to buy food and use the rest for the children to attend school," says An Bira Hatu.
Taung Ywar Ward had the highest water levels in all of Buthidaung during the 2015 floods associated with Cyclone Komen, rising up to three feet and sweeping away precious food storage (mainly rice, potatoes and oil) as well as non-food items such as clothing.
Daw Thein Shwe’s house in Taung Ywar Ward appears to be leaning. The roof is patched together with tarpaulin and bamboo and slopes precariously over the single-storey structure. It looks unlikely to withstand a strong storm, let alone the impending monsoon rains.
Living on the banks of the Chindwin River in Myanmar's Sagaing region, Daw Nye Mya (60) reports that she "had never seen flooding as bad" as the floods which swept through her village in July and August 2015.
As head of her household, Daw Nye Mya grows sesame, groundnut and pigeon pea on ten acres of land. She employs some casual labourers while two of her daughters also work the land to make enough money to fund a third daughter who attends university in Monywa. But the outlook for her daughter's tertiary education is precarious.
After the floods swept through his village in July 2015, Than Win (43) and his two older sons could not find work for nearly three months. As casual agricultural workers, their daily income of 6500K (roughly US$5) was literally buried under the mud.
"I had to sell some of my things in order to buy food for the family, including some special possessions of jewellery that I had bought from savings. We also borrowed money from neighbours," said Than Win.
Like so many communities in rural Myanmar, the 114 families in Tha Koar village depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The village is in central Rakhine state, one of the six states or regions worst affected by the floods that swept through Myanmar between July and October 2015.
In this village alone, nearly one-third of the houses were destroyed in the floods, 45 buffalo and cows were killed and 90 percent of the paddy crop was wiped out. The paddy was replanted after the disaster, but by then it was late in the season and the ground was covered in mud, so the staple crop will be smaller than hoped. Many stored seeds were damaged in the floods and farmers now lack draught power because so many animals were lost. As a result, families also fear their winter vegetable crop might be reduced by two-thirds, compared to a normal year.
The fishing and aquaculture sectors in Myanmar have faced a number of challenges in the past, including the uncontrolled expansion of fishing effort, illegal fishing and conflicts over land use. Uncontrolled or illegal fishing and land use conflict can leave fishers vulnerable and less able to negotiate the price paid for their catch, affecting their livelihoods and their ability to support their families. However, an FAO project, funded by the Government of Italy, is helping to build sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture livelihoods in coastal mangrove ecosystems in the Ayeyarwady Delta.
The project was implemented in a region where natural events such as droughts, floods, pest infestations as well as limited agriculture and financial inputs are major risks to food security and where the recent effects of climate change are worsening the situation. The Central Dry Zone is considered one of the poorest and most backward areas of the country. Its chronic food deficit is aggravated by weak infrastructure, harsh climate, shortages of water, inadequate farming inputs and lack of access to land.