First Rapid Assessment in Southern Chin State (30 th August 2010 to 9 th September 2010) Final Report Table of contents 1 Assessment rationale, objectives and methodology .................................................3 1.1 Context: worrying trends in Southern Chin State..............................................3 1.2 Objectives of the rapid assessment .................................................................4 1.3 Assessment methodology and constraints .......................................................4 2 Background information on the two townships: difficult access, few INGOs .............4 2.1 Mindat Township..............................................................................................4 2.2 Kanpetlet Township .........................................................................................5 3 Overview of local farming systems ...........................................................................6 3.1 Main crops and cropping systems....................................................................6 3.1.1 Slash-and-burn system ................................................................................6 3.1.2 Home gardens .............................................................................................7 3.1.3 Winter crops.................................................................................................7 3.1.4 Permanent crops..........................................................................................7 3.2 Farming calendar.............................................................................................8 3.3 Cultivated area and yields................................................................................8 3.4 Land access ....................................................................................................9 4 Other livelihoods ....................................................................................................10 4.1 Livestock rearing............................................................................................10 4.2 Casual labour.................................................................................................10 4.3 Other sources of income................................................................................10 5 Food security: a rodent infestation that adds to the chronic food insecurity ............11 6 Conclusion and recommendations .........................................................................12 7 Annexes.................................................................................................................13 7.1 Annex 1: Persons met in Mindat and Kanpetlet and their main recommendations......................................................................................................13 7.2 Annex 2: Pictures...........................................................................................14 1 Assessment rationale, objectives and methodology 1.1 Context: worrying trends in Southern Chin State Chin State is located in the north-western part of Myanmar, bordering India and Bangladesh. Most of the state is hilly and mountainous with an average altitude of 1,200 meters. The main livelihood is agriculture which mostly consists in shifting cultivation (slash and burn farming). In Southern Chin State there are few other livelihoods than subsistence farming. The few sources of cash income include small-scale vegetable and fruit production, livestock, petty trade and casual labour. Food security heavily relies on fragile upland farming systems: shifting cultivation is predominant, crop yields depend on soil fertility and its renewal and are therefore directly related to the field rotation cycles. The trend in the past decades is a growing pressure on cultivable lands, shorter rotation cycles and therefore a decline in staple crop yields. The massive rodent infestation that started across Chin State in 2008 seems to have peaked in 2010 in the southern area of the state. During recent coordination meetings in Yangon, various stakeholders currently active in Chin State reported a gravely worrying food security situation especially in the southern townships. Considering the low numbers of aid agencies operating in this area, Solidarités International decided to assess the overall humanitarian situation in two of the three most southern townships of Chin State, namely Mindat and Kanpetlet. A rapid assessment was carried out in early September 2010. Figure 1. Localization of the two assessed townships Mind at & Kanpetlet Townships Source: MIMU 1.2 Objectives of the rapid assessment This first rapid assessment mainly focused on the food security status of the local population but also aimed to give an overview of the current livelihoods, main humanitarian concerns and priority sectors for aid agencies. It was intended to be a precursor to a more logistic-focused assessment later in the year focusing primarily on the more remote township of Kanpetlet. More specifically, the objectives were: To assess the current food security status of the local population in Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships; To identify priority needs in Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships for 2010-2011; To refine the intervention mapping in Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships. 1.3 Assessment methodology and constraints The assessment team was composed of two Solidarités International staff (Programme Coordinator Assistant and Community Infrastructure Assistant) and a consultant (retired civil servant from the Cooperative department). They first met the main stakeholders present in the two townships. In Mindat the assessment team met representatives from local authorities (TPDC 1), UNDP, CARE International in Myanmar, KMSS 2 and MAS 3. In Kanpetlet they met TPDC, UNDP and MAS representatives (see Annex 1 for the full list of persons met and their main recommendations). After identifying key actors and priority areas, they visited a sample of villages 4 in order to have an overview of the current food security situation and the main humanitarian needs through discussions with key actors. The time was short for such an assessment in an area which main features are its rugged landscape and extremely poor access to roads and means - especially during the rainy season. Since Solidarités International is new to the area, the local authorities did not allow the assessment team to visit villages in Kanpetlet, however there were indications that a future assessment in the year would be allowed if transparency and trust were maintained throughout the process. In Mindat, only the closest villages to the main town were possible to visit due to the poor road conditions. 2 Background information on the two townships: difficult access, few INGOs 2.1 Mindat Township Mindat Township has an average elevation of 1,400 meters above the sea level. The landscape is mostly hilly with steep slopes. The average rainfall is around 1400 mm per year. 1 Township Peace and Development Council. 2 Karuna Myanmar Social Services (local NGO). 3 Myanmar Agriculture Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. 4 Only in Mindat Township. Figure 2. Climate chart for Mindat Picture 1. Mindat town, August 2010 400 40 350 35 300 30 250 25 200 20 150 15 100 10 (C) Temperature Precipitation (mm) 50 5 0 0 JFMAMJJASOND Mean Monthly Precipitation (mm) Mean Monthly Temperature (C) Source: www.climate-charts.com Mindat Township has a total population of approximately 39,500 people 5, with 85% living in rural areas. The township consists of 46 village tracts and approximately 200 villages. In the rural areas, the population is relatively low with an average size of only 30 households per village. People’s high mobility is another important feature of the township: village location sometimes changes, some villages have only 4 or 5 households, and there are a number of villages on the map where no one seems to live permanently. The main livelihoods are farming and livestock breeding. Access to most of the villages is very difficult. Some villages can be reached by four wheel jeep or motorbike in the dry season while others are a 3 days walk from the nearest accessible road. There are three main aid agencies currently working in Mindat: UNDP has ongoing projects which began in 2005 and currently target 63 villages in 33 Village Tracts (VT). Their main activities are revolving funds, cash grants and community development. CARE started Water and Sanitation projects (gravity water scheme, rainwater collection tanks and latrines) in 2004 in 62 villages. In 2008 they initiated Livelihood projects in the same villages. Activities include in-kind and cash support for livestock rearing (pig, chicken and goat), Village Saving and Loan Association creation, seeds (elephant foot yam) distribution. KMSS implemented activities in 2010 in 5 villages in collaboration with WFP. This includes terrace cultivation development and road rehabilitation under Food for Work (FFW). 2.2 Kanpetlet Township Kanpetlet Township is located in Mindat district. The average elevation is 1,350 m above the sea level. Like Mindat, this is a hilly township with steep slopes and narrow valleys. The average rainfall is reportedly 2,200 mm per year, which is significantly higher than in Mindat. 5 Source: UNOCHA, Chin State, August 2010. Picture 2. Kanpetlet town, August 2010 Picture 3. Upland farms in Kanpetlet Kanpetlet Township has a total population of approximately 20,000 people, including approximately 3,000 people in the main town (Kanpetlet).