CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
Emergency Appeal Update:
Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Nargis Response
August 20, 2008


SITUATION: Relief efforts continue as the second stage of the response 
to Cyclone Nargis moves forward. Nargis struck Myanmar (Burma) on May 
2-3 and, according to figures supplied by the United Nations in July, 
killed more than 84,530 persons; 53,836 are still reported missing.

Access to the affected areas has improved both for local and 
international workers, and assistance is getting through, though still 
slowly. Meanwhile, relief and recovery needs remain great and are 
further exacerbated by the arrival of heavy monsoon rains.


CWS RESPONSE:

SUMMARY OF RELIEF WORK:

(as of June 19)

* 572 villages have been reached by CWS and a local CWS partner, unnamed 
for security reasons.

* 41,374 households (163,000 people) have received shelter tarps.

* 3,944 clean water baskets have been installed, directly benefiting 
some 323,000 persons, and others as they arrive back to their 
communities. This could ultimately benefit some 980,000 persons.

* CWS local partners have been distributing seeds to the targeted farm 
households in affected areas.

NEXT STAGE: In the next stage of our efforts, CWS will focus on water 
provision to additional communities, and further temporary shelter 
assistance, both of which were objectives in our original appeal. In 
addition, a new objective of agricultural recovery work is planned that 
has the potential of generating income of $11.9 million by the 20,073 
targeted farm families, who will also provide employment for farm 
laborers. Estimated beneficiaries: 116,000 farmers/farm laborers.

The project is expected to last through December 31, 2008.

Working as a member of a larger Action by Churches Together 
International effort, CWS is supporting the local partner, whose work 
focuses on helping poor rural families in Myanmar to improve their 
income.

This partner designs, manufactures and disseminates a range of 
irrigation products that enable small farmers to increase their food 
security, incomes and well-being. This CWS partner has been operating in 
Myanmar for more than four and a half years and has both local and 
expatriate staff specializing in horticulture, entomology, agricultural 
economics and irrigation. Prior to the cyclone, this partner was already 
operational in several thousand villages in the Irrawaddy Delta.

With the added objective in this revised appeal of assisting in 
agricultural recovery work, this partner has begun the distribution of 
seeds to targeted farm households in 11 affected townships. These 
include landless laborers and small-plot paddy rice farmers/farm 
households able to now plant rice seedlings.

The numerical breakdown and calculation follows:

* 20,073 farm households of the Irrawaddy Delta will receive rice seed, 
fertilizer and inputs for their monsoon paddy rice crop.

* Farm households will produce average paddy yields of 50 baskets per 
acre x 5 acres average = 250 baskets of rice per farm household. About 
170 baskets can be sold as surplus for the typical 5-person family. (80 
baskets per household will be set aside for one year*s consumption.)

* Employment will be generated by 20,073 farms for landless laborers; 
daily wages will enable laborers to buy food.

Household income gains:

* Direct cash transfers of $20 per household will allow families to buy 
food and essential items. This cash infusion or extra purchasing power 
will help stimulate the rural economy.

* With average household surplus of 170 baskets @ $3.50 prevailing farm 
gate price per basket, average household income generated from monsoon 
paddy production will total $595. This income will likely be used by 
paddy farmers for input capital for their dry season crops.

* Tot al income of $11.9 million may be generated by the 20,073 targeted 
households through the project.

Overall rice production:

* A total of 5 million baskets of paddy (88,036 metric tons) should be 
produced in 11 townships as a result of the project.

CWS will support its partner in the procurement and distribution of the 
following items:

Paddy field preparation tools and equipment: power tillers to villages 
that have a deficit of available draft animals for plowing. Each tiller 
has the capacity to prepare approximately 100 acres during this monsoon 
season.

Diesel: to operate power tillers - this will consume about 3 gallons per 
day and can till three acres per day.

Rice seed stock: to provide two baskets of seed stock (20 kg) per acre 
up to ten baskets per small-plot farm family.

Cash assistance: providing around 20,000 kyats (approx. $20) per family 
so they can afford to hire landless laborers and thereby generate 
village-level wage employment.

Fertilizer: to provide 50 kg bag of dry fertilizer and 25kg of liquid 
fertilizer for each paddy farmer.

The project will need support for the initial six months to enable the 
farmers to prepare their lands and do the planting. Hopefully by the end 
of the year, the farmers will be able to support themselves.

Another initiative will be a capacity building effort to improve the 
coordination and the quality of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar.

At least 5,000 staff and volunteers of the ACT-member agency partners 
will receive various training and materials during this time period. 
This includes training in Sphere Minimum Standards for Humanitarian 
Assistance.  Figures are expected to increase as CWS and the ACT Myanmar 
Emergency Response Operation Coordination Team encourage ACT members and 
their partners to take up this opportunity for capacity building 
support.

BUDGET: $6,082,005, of which $1,019,383 is still needed.

Direct program costs total $5,535,027, of which water efforts are 
$185,500; emergency shelter work is $250,000; livelihood and community 
support efforts are $4,623,497; capacity building efforts are $194,030 
and warehousing and transport are $282,000.  CWS indirect costs are 
$546,978 which includes personnel, bank fees, audit costs, equipment and 
supplies.

HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent 
to your denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, 
IN, 46515.  Please designate: Appeal # 699-A, Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone 
Nargis Response.  For further information about disasters to which 
Church World Service is responding please visit 
www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.


CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org
Domestic Response: bvollmering@churchworldservice.org


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