Myanmar: UN-Italian Plan To Boost Livelihoods

Myanmar Cyclone Victims To Benefit From UN-Italian Plan To Boost Livelihoods

New York, May 28 2009 10:10AM The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Italian Government have agreed on a $5.2 million programme to improve long-term food security for 32,000 poor fishing and farming families in Myanmar whose livelihoods were disrupted by last year’s Cyclone Nargis.

The Italian-sponsored, FAO-managed programme will help small-scale farming and fishing communities improve production through the introduction of modern technology, according to a news release issued by the Rome-based UN agency.

In addition, new employment should be generated and incomes improved by increasing the availability of quality seeds and community-based water management and reviving ecosystems. “These households join the over 112,000 households that FAO assisted between June 2008 and May 2009, as part of its $17 million cyclone Nargis assistance project and the hundreds of thousands of other families in various parts of Myanmar that FAO is working with and has worked with during its 30 years in this country,” said Shin Imao, FAO’s Representative in Myanmar.

Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 May 2008, killing nearly 150,000 people, and leaving many more homeless and without livelihoods. Giuseppe Cinti, Italy’s Ambassador in Myanmar, said Italy had already contributed $8 million to Myanmar’s recovery effort, with $6 million going to FAO-implemented projects. The new programme “will be implemented with the aim of giving the people of Myanmar the tools for their empowerment,” he said.

ENDS

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