The United Nations warned Thursday that Myanmar’s Rakhine State, one of the country’s poorest regions, is on the brink of an unprecedented disaster. The UN expressed particular concern for over two million people facing the threat of famine, according to the Associated Press.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) issued a report stating that Rakhine is on the edge of an unprecedented crisis, driven by a series of interconnected factors that could push the region’s already vulnerable population to collapse in the coming months.
Based on data collected in 2023 and 2024, along with interviews from civil society, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, the report describes an economy that has come to a standstill. Key sectors such as trade, agriculture, and construction are nearly dormant, exacerbating the situation.
This downturn is largely linked to restrictions on the movement of goods into the state from the rest of Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh, compounded by a decline in agricultural production. This is set against the backdrop of escalating fighting between ethnic rebel groups and the military junta that has been in power since 2021.
The UNDP stressed that Rakhine is at imminent risk of acute famine, with local food production expected to meet only 20% of the region’s needs by March and April 2025. Rice production, in particular, is facing a dramatic collapse, with 282,000 tons in 2023, sufficient to cover 60% of the population’s needs. By 2024, only 97,000 tons are expected, meeting just 20% of the demand. Simultaneously, trade in this staple food has nearly come to a halt, leaving over two million people—out of a total population of around 2.5 million—at risk of starvation.
The situation has worsened significantly since November 2023, when attacks by ethnic minority groups against Myanmar’s military extended into Rakhine, further destabilizing the region, according to the UNDP.
