Floods in Myanmar caused by heavy monsoon rains and a cyclone have destroyed crops and killed livestock and will cause food shortages if aid is not provided, though funding so far is inadequate, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on September 4.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said some 1.6 million people have been affected and more than 100 killed since June, Cyclone Komen, which hit Myanmar at the end of July, worsened the damage caused by the unusually heavy monsoon rains, and floodwaters have inundated a total of 1.4 million acres of farmland, the FAO said.
The floods and landslides across the country have destroyed 972,000 acres of standing crops and 36,000 acres of fish and shrimp ponds, and drowned 20,000 cattle, according to the statement.
"Now that the water is receding, we need to act swiftly to help rural communities get back on their feet, providing them with seeds, equipment and other support they need", Bui Thi Lan, the FAO representative in Myanmar, said in a statement.