By: Camp Correspondent
Maungdaw, Arakan State, 1 July 2025 | Rice farming in Maungdaw Township has drastically declined this year, as rising fuel costs, equipment shortages, and conflict-driven displacement have rendered cultivation nearly impossible for many local farmers.
The economic strain comes amid ongoing armed clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar’s military, which have displaced tens of thousands and severely disrupted agricultural life in the region.
“Last year, I paid 200,000 kyats to plough my farmland,” said one Rohingya farmer. “Now, it costs over 300,000 kyats for the same area. Fuel is 10,000 kyats per liter—how can we survive? Many farmers are giving up.”
The price of basic agricultural inputs has more than tripled, while labor and machinery are scarce. Farmers say even small plots are becoming too expensive to cultivate, and many lack access to functioning tractors or irrigation.
Population loss has compounded the crisis. A Rohingya community elder in Maungdaw explained:
“Most of our people have fled to Bangladesh, and many Rakhine families have moved to Yangon. The fields are empty now. Even the animals are grazing where we once grew rice.”
Maungdaw was once a densely populated agricultural zone with a majority Rohingya population. Now, local estimates suggest that only around 25,000 Rohingya remain—a sharp drop from the hundreds of thousands who lived there before the recent escalation in violence.
This crisis extends far beyond Maungdaw. In areas now under Arakan Army control, access to fertilizer, machinery, and markets has been heavily restricted. Ongoing blockades and road closures have cut communities off from trade and aid, intensifying food insecurity.
Rice, Arakan’s most vital staple crop, is at the center of this collapse. With fewer farmers, soaring costs, and a fractured supply chain, regional rice production is in steep decline.
The conflict, which reignited in late 2023, has turned much of Arakan into a conflict zone. Civilians—particularly Rohingya farmers and laborers—continue to bear the brunt of both the violence and the economic devastation left in its wake.
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