UNITED NATIONS, United States, Nov 8, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Myanmar's conflict-
torn Rakhine state is heading toward famine, the United Nations warned on
Thursday, as the country's civil war squeezes commerce and agricultural
production.

"Rakhine's economy has stopped functioning," a new report from the UN
Development Programme said, projecting "famine conditions by mid-2025" if
current levels of food insecurity are left unaddressed.

Some two million people are at risk of starvation, it said.

Amid the fighting roiling the country, international and domestic trade
routes leading into the already impoverished state have been closed, leaving
the entrance of aid and goods severely restricted.

In addition to intense fighting, people in Rakhine are facing "absence of
incomes, hyperinflation (and) significantly reduced domestic food
production," the UNDP report warned.

Myanmar has been racked by conflict between the military and various armed
groups opposed to its rule since the ruling junta ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's
elected government in February 2021.

Clashes have rocked western Rakhine since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked
security forces in November 2023, ending a ceasefire that had largely held
since the junta's 2021 coup.

With the farming economy in crisis, the UNDP predicted local food production
would only cover 20 percent of the state's needs by March or April.

Internal rice production is "plummeting," it said, due to "a lack of seeds,
fertilizers (and) severe weather conditions."

Some 97,000 tons of rice are set to be cultivated in Rakhine this year,
compared to 282,000 tons last year, according to the UNDP.

A "steep rise" in internally displaced people, meanwhile, means many fields
are unable to be worked.

According to UN figures, Rakhine state recorded more than 500,000 displaced
people in August, compared to just under 200,000 in October 2023.

Facing particular risk are populations including members of the long-
persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority and displaced people.