How the 'rice bowl of Asia' was emptied (Environment, Empire and capitalism)

       Before disaster struck, the Irrawaddy delta (in Burma) was known for its lush paddies  that provided fish and rice to most of Myanmar

       Before Friday's devastating cyclone, Tin Maung Htoo remembered the

Irrawaddy delta as a place full of trees and lush paddies that supplied

  most of Myanmar's rice and fish.

 "This is the area that feeds the whole country," said Mr. Htoo, the

 executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma. As of yesterday, he still

 hadn't heard from any of his three brothers living in Rangoon, in the

  delta's eastern-most region, the area that was ground zero for cyclone

 Nargis.

 As a high-school student, Mr. Htoo was forced to flee the country formerly

  known as Burma during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He continued

protesting against the military junta for six years - living first in

 Karen State, east of Rangoon, then in Bangkok - before he was arrested on

immigration charges by Thai authorities. After Mr. Htoo spent three years

 in prison, Amnesty International lobbied for his release, and he has been

 living in Canada since 1996.

Mr. Htoo, 35, spoke regularly with his brothers in Rangoon, a densely

 populated city whose architecture dates back to Myanmar's British imperial

  rule.

Rain hit with such speed 'it left marks on their faces'

"There are a few people who live in the cities that are well-off," Mr.

 Htoo said, "but the majority of them are very, very poor."

 The Rangoon region and Irrawaddy delta were once known as the "rice bowl

 of Asia." The delta is a triangle of fertile land, mangrove swamps and

 tidal estuaries at the mouth of the Irrawaddy, Myanmar's longest river and

. its most important trade artery.

   "It's a fertile region not only for rice but for fish as well, because the

river comes down from the north to the south. ... So farmers, especially

 those who grow rice, will have a hard time because there is nothing left

 for them to eat," Mr. Htoo said.

 Stretching from scattered islands in the Bay of Bengal to the southeast

 port city of Rangoon, the delta's base is about 240 kilometres long, its

 western flank about 290 kilometres. It is crisscrossed by a vast network

 of streams that swell to become small lakes during the May-October monsoon

 rains. Their muddy waters empty into the Andaman Sea.

      Over the past 150 years, huge areas of mangrove forest have been cleared

 and used to grow rice. The destruction of those forests, which served as a

 buffer from the sea, is partly to blame for the massive cyclone death

  toll, the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said

 yesterday.

 "Why the impact is so severe is because of the increase of the

 population," said Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, to which

 military-ruled Myanmar belongs. That has led to an "encroachment into the

 mangrove forests which used to serve as buffer between the rising tide,

  between big waves and storms and the residential area," he said in a

 speech in Singapore. "All those lands have been destroyed. Human beings

 are now direct victims of such natural forces."

The delta was jungle and high grass when it was annexed as Lower Burma by

  Britain in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War.

The colonial rulers, in charge until independence in 1948, encouraged

  migration and rice cultivation in the delta, commercialising its once

  feudal lands. Before independence, Myanmar was the world's largest

 exporter of rice, most of it grown in the delta.

      With a report from Reuters and AFP

 Leaving the door open to disaster

  Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian

      Nations, has blamed encroachment into the mangrove forests for the high

      death toll from cyclone Nargis.

      HISTORY

      Exploitation of the forests began in 1942 to satisfy the military demands

      of the Second World War and continued throughout the insurgent period to

      1972.

      Complex root system reduces bank erosion.

Wave energy may be reduced by 75 per cent during its passage through 200

 metres of mangrove forest.

      CURRENT THREATS

 Roughly half the world's mangrove area has been lost since 1900 as a

  result of clearances for developments such as shrimp farms.

 Lowlands converted to rice farms

  Rising ocean levels kill trees by making the mud at the roots too salty

 Increased population

The forests provide a filter for agricultural runoff such as fertilizers.

 EFFECT

 The formerly thick forest of mangroves is now a low forest of fewer, much

 smaller trees. This increases bank erosion and reduces coastal storm

   protection.

 TONIA COWAN, BRICE HALL/THE GLOBE AND MAIL; SOURCE: NETHERLANDS

 ORGANIZATION FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (NWO), UN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Source :

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/163896

 Comment: The destruction of Burmas  forests under the British Raj began long before 1942, with even many teak tees stripped out for sleepers for building British controlled railways in the Bbritish  Indian Empire.

Despite  military dictatorships since the British left  Myanmar/Burma a nation of 47.8 people has not been turned into acomplete  “basket case” by imperialism yet .

As far as food security is concerned they have been  till now still basically self reliant for supply. But only exported  a surplus amounting to 1%of the  global trade  in rice.

Some grain warehouses were damaged in the cyclone.

And it is feared that the incoming salt water may have long term effects in many areas.

Hopes are that with a good harvest food supply will be quickly regained.

See “Rice crop fears as Aid arrives” by Aung  Hla Tun  in the Financial Review.Friday 9 may.(No url  available yet.)

But in the meantime the speculators on hunger in the futures market ,who have already cornered “futures” of world grain have used the opportunity to jack the prices of rice even higher .Subsidies for ethanal  fuel from grain in the rich imperialist countries have cut into world grain supplies.

This at a time when Burma will be forced to enter the grain markets as a buyer.

So the combination of futures speculation combined with  cuts in supply because of ethanol is  creating huge environmental problems with forest destruction and conversion of food lands for ethanol  for the poor people of the world.

These monopoly high prices and conditions  will make feeding the poor of the world including third world Burma extremely difficult even  unaffordable for many  hundreds of millions pf people in the  third world.

Australia.with a monopoly of a whole continent  is a large grain exporter and  hopes to be a big beneficiary of  the expected huge price rises   in the near future , by taking advantage of the high profits that can be made exploiting the third world poor.

It is hoped that a humanitarian campaign can be developed in an Australia ,that is  still in an economic boom  ,for the government to forego some of the huge increases in its revenues that will be gained from taxing these windfall profits made from hungry people.

Australia could use these expected extra tax incomes  to immediately double its international aid  and return them to the third world poor (including our Aboriginal people)as development aid

But where are the humanitarians with a social conscience who will start such a “fair go” campaign   going be found?

On the left or the right ,?

Amonst anarchists and other socialists , Christians and Moslems who believe in charity  ,,humanists, trade unionists, school children and students , farmers ,even Free Traders ?

Or, don’t such humanitarians exist in imperialist, well fed and rich,  Au$tralia?

Send Aid for Burma now in this emergency ,  to help  its people can get back to re-creating their own food security.

But also  ,Campaign to- Permanently double ALL  Australian international  aid now!

Help end the ‘aid “debt cycles  imposed on  the third world with fair trade not ‘free trade”

Doubling aid will cost us nothing but just return a little of the extra tax revenues to the third world and we might  all feel better, more human , for it!