Kachin residents forced to forage for food to survive
Skyrocketing transport costs and road blockages due to conflict have forced a number of villagers in northern Kachin State’s Hsawlaw township to begin foraging for food in order to survive, according to Kachin MPs. “If we buy a bag of rice from Chipwe or Myitkyina, it costs more than K50,000 in total because of the high transport costs. Poor people are forced to resort to whatever means they can to survive, like foraging for tubers,” Lisu National Development Party MP Lar Mar Lay told Lower House on December 20. “They cannot afford to eat if they have to buy rice at these prices.” Excessive rainfall throughout the township this year has destroyed the local rice crop this season, meaning that the food supply needs to be sourced from other areas. A previously utilised 34 mile-long road between Chipwe and Hsawlaw has been rendered inaccessible by the use of landmines during the ongoing conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Tatmadaw. Now, in order to access the township, it is necessary to venture along 75 mile-long route through mountainous terrain.
