KUNCHANGONE, 28 August 2008 (IRIN) - For 42-year-old Than Than and her husband, making ends meet has never been harder.

Their main source of livelihood took a direct hit when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar's Yangon Division in May, sweeping away their 200 ducks and five water buffaloes valued at over US$1,000.

Unable to sell eggs or rent out her buffaloes to plough her neighbour's rice fields, her plight is indicative of many small-scale livestock farmers.

"I can barely make 1,200 kyat ($1) per day out of my livestock business now… Before the cyclone, I could make over 5,000 kyat ($5) per day," the mother-of-three said, waving her arms at some ducks swimming nearby.

"Those ducks are not mine. They belong to my friend," Than Than said.

She has borrowed 40 ducks to help sustain her family, and hopes to be able to buy her own ducks soon.

There are tens of thousands of small-scale farmers like Than Than in need of assistance in the aftermath of Nargis - now described as Myanmar's worst natural disaster ever, leaving almost 140,000 people dead or missing and affecting over two million people.

Livestock losses force change of tack

The loss of livestock in the storm was significant: In addition to over 300,000 buffaloes and cattle, in the most affected 11 townships of Yangon and Ayeyarwady divisions, about 66,000 pigs, over one million chickens, and around 500,000 ducks, were killed in the cyclone, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)  reported.

According to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) [http://www.asean.org/21765.pdf] report released in July by the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN, total losses and damage as a result of Nargis run into billions of US dollars.

Unassisted and unable to cope, many small-scale livestock farmers have switched to fishing instead [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79866]

"It's not so bad. I can earn enough household income from this job [fishing]… But, I would prefer to run my backyard livestock business again, Daw Mya Khin, a 46-year-old widow from Thonegwa village said.

FAO efforts

The cyclone-hit area is a key livestock producing region - accounting for roughly 50 percent of national poultry production and 40 percent of pig production. Yangon, the largest city, was heavily dependent on surplus livestock production from the area.

To jump-start the sector, FAO plans to distribute draught cattle, goats, pigs and poultry to replace lost, sold or consumed livestock, and supply veterinary medicines and vaccines to improve animal health and protect livestock - in collaboration with the Myanmar Livestock Federation and the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

In late July, FAO donated 600 buffaloes to needy households in Myanmar's badly affected Ayeyarwady Delta.

It has also been working to assist a large number of small-scale rice farmers prepare their paddy fields in time for this year's planting season.

"We also have a plan to help the poor farmers in terms of backyard livestock," Ye Tun Oo, a livestock consultant within FAO's Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit in Myanmar, said.

"Provided we receive funds from our donors, we will implement our plan to distribute livestock animals like chickens and pigs to the poor cyclone-hit farmers," he said.

As part of its relief and early recovery effort, FAO has appealed for $33.5 million to provide immediate aid to over 50,000 small-scale farming households and 99,000 landless rural households.

Myanmar Livestock Federation

The Myanmar Livestock Federation has its own plans to assist cyclone-hit farmers re-establish their backyard livestock.

Starting in September, some 50,000 livestock animals will be distributed to needy families free of charge, one senior official from the Federation told IRIN.

"We're going to hand over those livestock animals via the township authorities… I hope this will help the cyclone survivors to restore [their livestock] quickly," said the official, who was not authorised to speak on the record.

Included in this effort would be some 2,000 pigs, 20,000 chickens and 30,000 ducks, he said.

However, despite these efforts, and in the short to medium term, cyclone survivors will remain largely dependent on outside assistance to get by: "It will take 2-3 years for the farmers to restore their backyard livestock," Ye Tun Oo said.

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