Kantarawaddy Times
Since the military coup has already passed half a decade, the hopes of Myanmar’s farmers are still being shattered by unpredictable conflict and natural disasters.
Following the 2021 military coup, farmers across the country were forced to abandon their homes and farmland. At the same time, Myanmar’s farmers have faced the impacts of natural disasters, including Cyclone Mocha in 2023, Typhoon Yagi in 2024, the Sagaing Fault earthquake in 2025, and severe flooding in 2026.
Yet it is precisely the impact of these disasters that has strengthened the will to survive, deeply rooted in the hearts of farmers across the country, despite the pain they have endured.
In Karenni State, where 80 percent of the area is a conflict zone, many local farmers who had been forced to stop cultivating rice have begun returning to rice farming whenever they get the chance.
Despite the various dangers, they are returning to agriculture, which is their traditional means of livelihood.
“We need food to eat and drink. We have to do it no matter what,” said a male farmer in his 30s.
He has three children under the age of 15. He has cultivated nearly one acre of rice in Nanmekhon, Demoso Township, an area often described as the “rice bowl” of Karenni State.
He also chose the path of armed resistance after the military coup. He has no regular source of income.
Nevertheless, amid all the difficulties he currently faces, he borrowed capital from relatives to invest in rice cultivation. He will be able to repay the borrowed money only once the rice harvest comes in.
For farmers in Karenni State who are being pushed to cultivate rice, this method has become a practical short-term solution.
“Most of us are farmers. We depend on rice and paddy for our livelihoods,” the man explained.
According to the 2014 Census, there were only more than 32,000 employed people between the ages of 15 and 64 in Karenni State. More than 25,000 were skilled workers in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Of these, more than 14,000 were men and more than 11,000 were women.
These figures prove that agriculture remains one of the main livelihood sectors in Karenni.
“Our family has depended on growing rice to keep everything going. Our school fees, medical expenses, and the capital needed to grow other crops all depended on rice. After we were displaced by the war, our main source of income completely disappeared, so everything was affected. That’s why my father and the others took the risk of going back to grow rice in the Demoso area. It’s mainly for us to eat. I don’t think we’ll be able to sell it,” said a displaced woman from Demoso Township.
In Karenni, following Operation 1111, the military junta’s counteroffensive caused revolutionary forces to give up most areas. Now, the military has regained control of most areas in Loikaw, as well as in parts of Pekhon, Moebye, Demoso, Hpruso, and Bawlakhe.
After the junta was able to regain control of territories, the amount of cultivable land in Karenni State has decreased compared with 2025, according to the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation of the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC).
In Hpruso Township, where farmers have relied heavily on upland rice cultivation through generations, incidents of life-threatening dangers to farmers reached a peak during the first half of 2026.
On May 7, a man who had gone to work on an upland farm was arrested by a military column. More than 1,000 people from villages and displacement camps near the military column were forced to flee.
In August alone, the military burned three civilian homes in Hpruso. In addition, drone attacks killed five civilians, destroyed at least two houses, and injured a man and a woman who had gone to work on their upland farms.
For farmers who have to travel every day from displacement camps to farmland near their villages to grow rice amid such threats to their lives, the situation is like living on constant alert.
“Because we have to work so far away, it takes a lot of time, and we are very tired. We always have to travel cautiously on the way there and back. As the military is constantly sending drones to conduct surveillance, we have to avoid them, and we can’t get as much work done as we should. We face many difficulties,” said a male farmer growing upland rice in Hpruso.
Myanmar is currently the sixth-most severely affected country in the world in terms of hunger, with 12.4 million people, nearly one in four of the population, currently facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) in a statement issued on August 20.
The WFP also warned that if already-high food and fuel prices continue to rise rather than decline, up to another five million people could face acute food insecurity.
Meanwhile, the IEC has also urged farmers to grow rice to strengthen domestic rice production. Due to the rise in fertilizer prices, the IEC is also providing education on agricultural techniques and the production and use of natural inputs to help reduce farming costs, said U Tint Swe, Deputy Head of the IEC’s Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Department.
“We encourage both our departments and farmers to work toward achieving rice self-sufficiency within the state. We support and stand with farmers as much as we can. Whether through technical assistance or other forms of support, we are doing whatever we can within our capacity,” he said.
The department has also been providing farmers with technical training to reduce cultivation costs, distributing rice seeds, providing training on the production and use of natural agricultural inputs, and selling natural or chemical inputs through the department so that farmers can purchase them.
To further promote domestic agricultural production, the IEC announced that during the first six months of 2026, it distributed rice seeds for 155 acres of rice fields in Nanmekhon, Loinanpha, and Kaylyar townships.
The WFP has reported that around four million people in Myanmar remain internally displaced as a result of the 2021 military coup, while more than 360,000 children are currently suffering from acute malnutrition.
Amid these rising figures, people across Myanmar, including the people of Karenni, continue to struggle every day to meet their basic needs with unwavering determination.
