MYANMAR EXPORTS 40,000 TONS OF RICE

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar exports 40,000 tons of rice 

Xinhua 12 October 1999:   Myanmar exported a total of 38,700 tons of rice
in the first half of this year, an increase of 110.32 percent over a year
ago, according to the latest figures of the country's central statistical
organization. In 1998, Myanmar exported 111,700 tons of rice, a
572.89-percent increase over 1997. Despite the rise in rice export in
recent years, the situation remains grim as Myanmar's population grows by 2
percent
annually. To meet the food demand of the increasing population, the Myanmar
government has, since
January this year, leased out more than 400,000 hectares of vacant and
virgin lands to be cultivated by
private entrepreneurs. Myanmar's cultivable land covers 18.22 million
hectares, of which 9.31 million
hectares have been utilized. 


DAVID ARNOTT'S COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:

I don't quite understand these figures, partly because we are not given the
figure for the first half of 98 or 97, but only for the whole year. But if
we assume (which we cannot) that total rice exports for the year might be
38,700 multiplied by two, the result would be 77,400 tons, which is about
70% of last years total, a fall of 30% . Could someone with better
arithmetic and/or access to all the figures and information about annual
patterns of rice exports clarify these matters, please. 

(It would be very helpful if the Myanmar website were to carry  the
statistics from the  "country's central statistical organisation" referred
to by Xinhua -- presumably a publication which the agency has access to and
from which it extracts a story when there's no other news. Some cynics have
said that the SPDC limits distribution of its statistics for fear that
people like me would abuse them, but I'm sure this cannot be true. I'm sure
that if the Myanmar.com website does not have the capacity to carry these
documents, another of the Burma websites would be happy to oblige,
especially if the data were sent to them in electronic form.)

The main question, though, is whether  Burma  should be exporting any rice
at all, given the high level of malnutrition in Burma. The statistical
tables in UNICEF's 1999 "State of the World's Children" (accessible at
www.unicef.org)   indicate that  for the period 1990-97, of Burmese
children, 24% have a low birthweight, and of under-fives, 16% are severely
underweight, 43% are moderately/severly underweight and  45% suffer from
moderate/severe stunting. These statistics are a telling comment on the
situation in the "ricebowl of Asia".

The People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization  in Burma
(www.hrschool.org/tribunal) 
composed of three distinguished Asian experts,  is due to issue its report
in a few days.  I will copy this posting to them and ask them to announce
the publication on the Burma conferences.



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