Replacing Water Buffalo

I concur with Jock. It would be a mistake to promote outside technological solutions that are not cost effective, when other more cost effective sustainable approaches are available. That said, given the severe depletion of beasts of burden (e.g., water buffalo) in Myanmar, small tractors customized for rice paddy use may be essential to rapidly recapture food productivity in Myanmar sufficient to feed the Burmese people. One of the concerns we should seriously consider is whether the development of a system for using tractors, or other interventions, makes the Burmese agricultural workers even more dependent upon the Myanmar junta in ways that further diminish their quality of life and functional life capacity over the longer term.

Bamboos huts and water buffalo, grown locally and traded through local market approaches does not increase dependency on government, which they do not participate in choosing. However, it also does nothing to give them leverage in their greater self-determination, when a government that does not represent them keeps them from owning land and may require them forcibly to move and engage in labor without the agricultural worker necessarily benefiting from the fruits of their labor. These are hard realities about Myanmar that must be faced over the longer term. But the first task have to be about creating resilience and sustainability now for millions of Burmese that are now at risk of malnutrition and possible starvation in the short-term.

We need to have a clear and comprehensive assessment of how many people are at risk of malnutrition and starvation before food production in Myanmar can meet their food and nutritional needs. We need to have clear and unbiased evidence regarding the viable agricultural capacities that are now laying fallow. When possible, water buffalos owned and controlled by Resilience Networks, organized at the village level are better than a tractor, that is owned by the Junta and requires outside input of fuel and maintenance. However, if tractors are necessary to kick start the agricultural production process to quickly build agricultural production, then a system must be devised for engaging them without creating long-term, counter-productive dependencies.

Keep in mind, the loss of beasts of burden are only one part of the problem. We need to test soil throughout the lower Irrawaddy Delta for salinity, given that there are reports of crop failure due to saltification. Loss of human labor is a problem. Not only have 140,000 been killed in the early stages of the Cyclone Nargis disaster: Countless others are inhibited by malnutrition, psychosocial problems, and socio-ecological gaps that diminish valuable contribution.