Drug Control through Integrated Livelihood Development in the Wa Special Region of Myanmar (UNODC/Wa Project - AD/RAS/C25)

Introduction

The Wa Project aims at addressing the needs of the people of the Wa Region where a ban on opium poppy cultivation has gone into effect since June 26, 2005. UNODC surveys estimate that 96 per cent of a total population of 470, 000, used to depend on opium income, with many of them using it to offset acute rice shortages. Because few alternative sources exist to increase income or agricultural production, the people in this region faced a difficult situation when the ban went into effect. At present, the human indicators for the Wa rural areas are far below the national average.

The Wa Project addresses the needs of the population through the implementation of livelihood activities in the entire Wa Region. Joint planning and community development work are the main characteristics of this project. However, as people's needs are plentiful and UNODC resources limited, associated partnerships through the Kokang and Wa Initiative (KOWI), established in 2003, is brought to bear on the project. Several NGOs and other UN agencies such as the World Food Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organization participate in this initiative. This project is currently in its third phase of operation, which began in January 2004 and ends in December 2007. Phase I began in late 1998 and ended in December 2000, and Phase II commenced in January 2001 and ended in 2003.[ top]

Objective

Main Objective: To improve in a sustainable manner the living standards of rural communities in the Wa Region.

Specific phase3 Objectives: To support and maintain the rapid reduction of poppy cultivation by providing appropriate sustainable livelihood alternatives to farmers. This support is provided at three levels: 1) emergency assistance, 2) provision of basic needs, and 3) alternative income enhancement.[ top]

Strategy

Overall Alternative Development Strategy: Sustainable rural development will eliminate the need for communities to grow, produce and sell raw opium.

Specific project strategies:

• Piloting in selected nucleus or core villages (village tracts)
• Attending to village priorities while involving local authorities
• Facilitating learning-by-doing to build practical skills and capabilities
• Maximising income opportunities while improving physical access
• Focusing on key farmers, women and youth, facilitating inter-community and farmer-to-farmer extension
• Expanding progressively from core villages into surrounding villages

The key strategic requirement of the project is to involve the community and local authorities, recognising a hierarchy of development management, in planning and implementing all project activities.

In the context of the Wa Project, this development-learning approach involves a four-step process:

1. Assessing the situation
2. Planning and work programming
3. Implementing and monitoring
4. Reviewing and evaluating

Initially, focusing at the level of the family/village/community, the project will invest its resources in establishing sound models for each component in close collaboration with local communities, local authorities, and government staff to improve the capability for increasing project coverage and impact.

Project planning and development management at higher levels will involve all project stakeholders, including community representatives, local Wa authorities and government agencies at village tract, township and district levels.

Phase III of the project is conducted in cooperation with the Government of the Union of Myanmar and the Wa Authority. This interaction facilitates greater interface between the Government, through the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, and the relevant Wa agencies. Joint planning at the Special Region level - one manifestation of interaction and cooperation - establishes village-level participatory development as its guiding principle. This approach will ensure that:

• implemented activities are linked to existing needs, based on effective demand and the natural resources of the community,
• development activities and processes are in harmony with local customs and culture,
• human resources - both men and women - are mobilised and strengthened, as well as local capacity developed, and
• the villagers have a feeling of ownership over the development initiatives and processes, a crucial aspect of programme sustainability.

The Wa Project cooperates with other agencies through the KOWI umbrella. While individual KOWI projects not executed by UNODC will remain independent, the Wa Project comprises the core of the partnership, linking past initiatives with present work and enabling close cooperation with the authorities. In short, the project's role regarding KOWI will be to:

• facilitate the entry and interventions of new partners under the KOWI framework
• increase the impact of interventions through coordination of the partnership
• focus interventions of partners effectively through collecting and processing socio-economic data based on the ongoing opium surveys
• prevent worst case scenarios by initiating pilot activities directed at urgent food security challenges in the Wa Region
• build local capacity within communities and local authorities to formulate and implement appropriate measures.[ top]

KOWI Partnership

Project Components

Infrastructure

Objective: Establish or improve the infrastructure and services necessary to reduce isolation and to improve human and animal health standards, education standards and utility services.

Main Activities:

• Extension and maintenance of main roads and feeder roads.
• Establishment of water supplies - a priority need for sanitary health care and land irrigation.

Livelihood

Objective: Develop ecologically sustainable and financially attractive alternative income sources for the people of the project area.

Main Activities:

• Intensification and diversification of rice-based farming systems.
• Improved returns from livestock and fisheries production.
• Alternative sources of income generation introduced and developed, focusing on sustainability.
• Provision of communal irrigation systems and farm equipment.

Public Health, Drugs and HIV/AIDS

Objective: Reduce illicit drug demand and establish an accessible and culturally sensitive primary health care delivery system.

Main Activities:

• Trained local health care service providers.
• Development of physical infrastructure and establishment of services.
• Provision of basic public health services.
• Establishment of a drug demand reduction programme - including the provision of detoxification and rehabilitation services and the demonstration of alternative drug treatment methodologies. 

Education

Objective: Upgrade the educational and vocational training capacity of the local community and integrate it into the government's mainstream system at the upper levels.

Main Activities:

• Improved literacy and school educational standards.
• Establishment and operation of an agricultural technical centre - organised as a testing, training and demonstration centre with diverse features of locally appropriate agricultural technologies, including new crop types and varieties, animal breeds and corresponding farming techniques.[ top]

Background

In May 1995, the Wa leadership formed a drug control committee which announced its intention to ban the cultivation of opium poppy in 2005, and requested international assistance to achieve this objective. The Wa Authority, in an attempt to demonstrate their commitment to the initiative, declared the first opium-free zone in Ho Tao in October 1995. Following the opium ban in 2005, the entire Wa Region has since been declared opium free.

The Wa Project was formulated in 1996 and commenced implementation in 1998. The first phase of the project intended to "establish a sustainable, community-based approach to the reduction and eventual elimination of the supply and demand for opium in the Wa Region".

The project now extends across the entire Wa Special Region 2, a mountainous area in the Northern and Eastern Shan State along Myanmar's border with China. Five townships in the Maing Maw district are covered (Kaung Ming Sang, Ling Haw, Klawng Pa, Man Tun and Na Wi), in addition to all townships in the Mong Pawk (Mong Khar, Ho Tao, Nam Phai, Mong Phen and Mong Pawk) and Wein Kao (Nawng Khit and Nam Kham Wu) districts.

The Wa Region reflects the great ethnic diversity that is characteristic of Myanmar as a whole. Approximately 70% of the population throughout the project area is Wa. Other minorities include Lahu, Shan, Akha, Chinese and Tai Loi (Bulang). Although road construction throughout the area is increasing and the Wa Authority is moving villagers closer to transportation routes, access to markets and other services remains limited, particularly during the rainy season (June to October).

Few villages enjoy a reliable and accessible water supply, and almost all villages lack satisfactory education and agricultural extension services. Most rural households are small and the region is characterized by poor soil quality and steep slopes. For these reasons, many families have suffered from long periods of rice deficit. To overcome this problem, farmers (74% in 2005) resorted to opium poppy cultivation. Since the opium ban is in effect, numerous villages face food insecurity. The project's primary goal is to help households overcome food shortages.

Aside from the development of alternative sustainable livelihoods, the C25 project addresses the problem of drug addiction in the Wa Region. The UNODC 2005 Myanmar Opium Survey found that approximately 0.83% of the local population are opium users. Because most users are men of working age who are typically heads of households, the impact of the problem is much higher than this statistic would suggest, affecting approximately 15% of the region's families. Within these families, women are required to work in the fields in lieu of their addicted husbands, in addition to undertaking their own daily tasks. As these households are usually poor, drug users often steal from their neighbours to support their habit. Anecdotal evidence suggests that domestic violence is rampant in households of drug users.

When the Wa Authorities declared the region drug-free on 26 June 2005, decrees outlawing involvement in the production of heroin and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) were already in effect.

The ban in 2005 brought about a rapid and forced reduction of opium poppy cultivation, similar to that which occurred in Afghanistan under the Taliban in 2000-2001. The Afghan scenario resembled what is expected to happen in the Wa Region in 2006. Here too, poverty and food insecurity remain the main obstacles to a sustained cessation of opium poppy cultivation. According to the 2006 Golden Triangle Opium Survey, the average annual cash income for opium-producing households in the entire Shan State was US$ 437, 49.65% of which was derived from the sale of opium.

To ensure the provision of basic needs, Phase III of the Wa project was designed to assure food security as quickly as possible. The project is also working to support education and the preservation of natural resources, both prerequisites for the pursuit of longer-term income generation and alternative development strategies. Ensuring the sustainability of alternative income strategies requires time, as new production activities need to be developed to a stage where they can replace the income derived from opium.[ top]