Strait of Hormuz disruptions push Myanmar rice farmers to the brink

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]fuel, there'd be no rice in Myanmar without it.

[00:00:08]And so, disruptions thousands of kilometers away in the Strait of Hormuz are making a hard life even harder.

[00:00:20]>> As a family, we are losing what we have.

[00:00:22]If we need some money to grow rice, we go to a pawn shop or sell our belongings. So, our belongings are gradually depleting. I really feel a lack of motivation.

[00:00:32]>> The months-long closure of the major shipping route has sown the seeds of an agricultural disaster.

[00:00:39]Higher prices are felt deeply here in a country already battling a humanitarian crisis and in its sixth year of civil war.

[00:00:50]The Southeast Asian nation imports 90% of its fuel oil and up to 95% of its chemical fertilizers, much of it from the Gulf. These farmers say 50-kg bags of fertilizer are now five times more expensive than they were before March.

[00:01:11]>> If the situation continues to happen, we farmers are not sure we can grow rice. I no longer have motivation and I no longer want to do it. I'm just doing it because I own fields. I'm sick of it.

[00:01:22]>> The World Food Program warns that Myanmar is approaching a 50% drop in fertilizer use, which could reduce farming output by up to 15%.

[00:01:32]The country was once considered the world's rice bowl. In the early 20th century, it exported more of the staple than any other nation.

[00:01:41]But its legacy is increasingly relegated to history books.

[00:01:48]>> We don't want future generations to read history wondering if these farmers truly existed or if these events really happened. Our farmers are disappearing and are being reduced to laborers.

[00:02:00]>> The UN and monitoring groups estimate that more than 90,000 people have been killed in conflict since Myanmar's military coup in 2021. Nearly 4 million people are displaced. Now, a war a world away is adding to the pressure.

[00:02:19]Perry Walton, Al Jazeera.