LFT’s Rakhine Programme 2013 – 2018
LIFT started to provide substantial financial support for livelihoods and food security in Rakhine in 2013 through Tat Lan Programme. LIFT is currently funding the second phase, Tat Lan II, for 2016-2018.
Rakhine is one of the least developed areas of Myanmar and LIFT’s work focuses on improving people’s nutrition, food security, climate-resilient agriculture, livelihoods, and financial inclusion. The programme works in 14 of the 17 Rakhine townships in Rakhine State. From 2011 to 2018, LIFT invests USD 60 million in Rakhine State which is 22 per cent of LIFT’s total grant across the country.
The Rakhine programme works on economic and social development, such as socially responsible investments for the Special Economic Zone in Kyaukpyu, demand-driven vocational training systems, improved agricultural production through protection of paddy land from salt water intrusion, mechanisation and better technologies, and access to rural finance. LIFT’s nutrition programme, implemented since 2014 in three townships, provides valuable insights relevant to the recommendation for a statewide programme to combat malnutrition.
LIFT provides comprehensive support for rural development in Rakhine State by:
- introducing a variety of sustainable and affordable financial services, ensuring that the poorest and more remote communities are included
- increasing incomes for agriculture and fishery, and promoting sustainable use of common property
- providing access to quality skills and vocational training
- enhancing nutritional outcomes and hygiene practices
- improving the interaction and responsiveness between communities and local government
- promoting improved resilience to shocks and stresses for rural households
Expected outcomes of the programme are:
- increased access to affordable financial services and higher financial literacy on saving, credits, and investment
- higher incomes through improved agricultural production, sustainable fishery, and forest management
- increased and better employment opportunities
- reduced stunting, increased dietary diversity and knowledge on appropriate nutritional diets
- enabled communities are actively engaging with a responsive government
- communities and authorities are better prepared to respond to natural and conflict related stresses
Updates on LIFT’s Rakhine programme
New to LIFT’s portfolio in Rakhine in 2017 was a focus on technical and vocational skills training to support people ‘step out’ of agriculture into more productive sectors of Myanmar’s or Rakhine’s economy.
LIFT adjusted its approach to programming in Rakhine after violence led to the displacement of 700,000 people.
In August 2017, a report from the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, chaired by Kofi Annan and mandated by the Government of Myanmar, was released. The report provided recommendations on conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, reconciliation, institution building, and development. The report was accepted by the government but coincided with the outbreak of large-scale violence, resulting in the displacement of 700,000 Muslims from Rakhine, as well as the displacement of 27,000 Rakhine Buddhists and people from ethnic minority groups. LIFT’s projects in northern Rakhine were suspended while partners in central and southern Rakhine continued after a short period of inactivity. LIFT and the Fund Board monitored the situation closely with implementing partners, to develop principles to guide further work in Rakhine. In December, LIFT issued a USD 10 million call for proposals, aligned with the Rakhine Advisory Commission and with a focus on access to safe livelihoods and nutrition, ‘for potential projects that ensure that humanitarian and development needs of all people in Rakhine are addressed in a coordinated way for greater stability, interdependence, prosperity and growth’.
Continuing LIFT-funded development programmes in Rakhine
LIFT’s way forward in Rakhine for 2018 is threefold. Project activities in northern Rakhine are stalled and unused funds will be diverted to redesign provision of livelihood services to vulnerable and accessible communities in central Rakhine and conflict-affected IDP camps.
In 2018, new projects for Central Rakhine resulting from the call for proposals issued in December 2017 will be assessed and contracted.
Most of the existing projects in central and southern Rakhine continued operations in 2017 and are due to finish at the end of 2018. Projects will therefore focus on achieving their remaining targets. In 2018, LIFT’s technical and vocational training (TVET) project in Rakhine, in cooperation with the ILO, will gear up the project activities. The objective is to support a transformation of the public TVET system of Rakhine into a demand-driven system towards productive employment and poverty reduction. It aims for an integrated policy for skills development in Rakhine State that would prepare the workforce and local businesses for current and future skills needs, in a way that is inclusive of poor and rural households, for all communities, and closely linked with the private sector.
Download the programme one pager in English and Myanmar. The brochure (in both English and Myanmar) also presents a brief of LIFT's Rakhine programme.
