Over 90,000 people in Kachin’s Putao, one of Myanmar’s poorest districts, are on the brink of crisis as rice and medicine supplies run out after months of conflict that has severed trade routes.
Putao on the northern tip of the country comprises the townships of Putao, Nawngmun, Sumprabum, Khaunglanhpu and Machanbaw and is home to 91,247 people, according to the 2014 census.
Fighting between junta troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Sumprabum Township has cut off the flow of goods to Putao from the state capital Myitkyina. Residents report that fertilizer and fuel stocks are now running out in the northern district.
Rice is mainly grown by households for their own subsistence in Putao District. Production began to decline during the pandemic in 2020 but has dwindled further since the 2021 coup due to rising costs of agricultural materials and a shortage of labor. This has forced residents to buy their daily staple from Myitkyina at 350,000 to 400,000 kyats per sack, increasing their financial burdens. As stocks run low, and with another five months to be endured before the next harvest, locals are expressing concern over hunger and malnutrition.
A food convoy of 14 vehicles from Myitkyina arrived in Putao town during the first week of June following negotiations between the regime and the KIA. The vehicles were small however and did not carry fuel or pharmaceuticals.
“The convoy only arrived with 200 rice sacks, cooking oil, salt and onions,” a Putao resident said.
“The supplies were not even enough for people in the town. The many residents of villages could not even buy a pack of salt.”
A total of 37,288 acres of paddy were grown in the rainy season last year, according to regime data. But residents said they had no cattle to plow fields and no fuel to operate their tractors this monsoon season.
Video clips of desperate Putao men pulling plows by hand have been widely shared on social media. About 80 percent of local farmers still can’t cultivate their farms, said residents.
“Some farmers are plowing [by hand] themselves. Every Putao District township is facing a fuel shortage, so we can’t grow rice this rainy season. And existing rice stocks are not enough,” said a resident.
The regime said 40 barrels of diesel arrived by military plane from Mandalay on May 1, but farmers told The Irrawaddy that not all farmers received the fuel and those who did got only a small amount.
“They only got three bottles of diesel per acre. Normally, we use three gallons for an acre,” a local farmer reported.
Said another resident: “All people in Putao District are facing severe hardship. They need to reopen the road [to Myitkyina] for a month or two so that trade can resume and prices go down.”
Two clinics and pharmacies in Putao town have been forced to close after running out of medicines. Medical supplies are also running low at the town’s public hospital.
“The hospital is open but they say there is no medicine. Children from villages on the outskirts of Putao are already suffering from malnutrition,” said one resident.
The Irrawaddy’s calls to junta-appointed Kachin State Social Affairs Minister U Moe Min Thein went unanswered.
