Chin state is located in the north-western part of Myanmar, bordering with India and Bangladesh, with 10 highland townships.  About 75% of the Chin land is hilly and mountainous, having an average altitude of 4,000 ft.  Chin State consists of high mountains and deep valleys and is one of the poorest and most isolated states in Myanmar. Communication is very difficult. In addition, only a few villages can be accessed by car during the rainy season. This makes transportation of food and other commodities difficult and expensive.  The main livelihood is agriculture: farmers make their living following the traditional slash and burn system of shifting agriculture. This farming practice is causing depletion of the forest, including in areas that are more densely populated. In general, cultivation of a few acres of land produces just enough to feed a family of five or six members. Investment in agriculture and infrastructure in Chin is limited. The state is remote and a lack of natural resources and tourism sites has meant that development support from central government and the private sector has been limited. Job opportunities in Government and Non-government organizations are also scarce and the majority of households thus rely on subsistence agriculture. External technical and financial assistance from International Organizations and NGOs is also limited.

CAD (Sub-office of Hnaring) has been serving (24 villages) in number of 15,428 populations of the bellowed mentioned villages in figure (1). It is a region which does not yield any natural resources. Lack of natural resources in this region has led the civilians to inconsiderable social conditions that the civilians have no access to income opportunities, to knowledge expansion and to training. CAD supported $ 400 per acre to farmers in the past two years. The size of our aid to farmers is extremely different in financial amount that villagers prefer our Green Revolution and Terracing Program. Additionally, our financial aid to farmers is grant. When our financial aid is big, farmers have no fear for what they will eat tomorrow or this year unless terracing farm does not produce food for a year. So our bigger aid of finance to terracing farmers gives them guarantee of their food for at least a year. On their side, they are wholeheartedly dedicated to our terracing farming system too.

Main purpose:

To improve livelihood and food-security of Rural Farmers
for their Sustainable Development

Specific purposes:

1) To reduce/protect forest depletion.
2) To prevent draught by planting trees in the forest.
3) To promote food security and create income opportunities of local people
4) To enhance capacity of farmers relevant to Agriculture.
5) To create more job or income opportunities for local people
6) To establish and maintain forest area
7) To improve agricultural knowledge and livelihood opportunities of local farmers.
8) To equip vocational knowledge of and enhance higher empowerment and development of local women

In our statistics, there are about 5,010 acres of shifting farming which is so-called slash and burn traditional farming system. Since 2009, CAD has already replaced 75 acres of terracing farms with OBOS’s funding. Our last two years’ program of GRTP covers only 1.49 % of current traditional farms. Majority of remaining farmers are also very eager to substitute their traditional farming with terracing farm because according to farmers, they will from CAD get $ 300 which is sufficient for one year’s food of a family and they will have better livelihood and better agriculture and they will be finally productive too. In CAD’s food-security report, eighty two percent (82%) of the sample reported currently being in debt and needing to repay their loan. The most common reason for undertaking a loan was to purchase food. The local people understands need of change of their farming from traditional to modern farming so that they will have more productive agricultural system which is also supportive for better environment of human society.

Local farmers are given agricultural training. Besides, CAD gives them Soil Test Kits with which they will be able to achieve the following issues;

1. Farmers especially terrace beneficiaries will easily access to know nutrient deficiency from their agricultural land by using soil test kit.
2. Farmers can manage quickly their land by composting and bio – fertilizer application.
3. Farmers maintain crop productivity in permanent terrace land by putting necessary bio-manuals and organic matter with utilization of the Soil Test Kit.
4. Farmers will easily access to know soil PH problem by using Soil test kit.
5. Farmers can good create soil to neutralized soil PH urgently.
6. Farmers will quickly recover or treat their lands of lost soil nutrients by using soil test kit from soil problem occurrence.

Achievements

1. Local farmers are entitled to permanent land ownership by authority.
2. They have access to knowledge expansion and agricultural training.
3. Their income is very much improved from this project because they are given US$ 300 per acre.
4. 100 numbers of women were given food processing training for their empowerment and development by hiring outside resource: Golden Plain Cooperative.
5. 275 men and 292 women were direct beneficiaries from our farming supports.
6. 2150 men and 2384 women (4534 villagers) had access to cash for work program of trees plantation.

Constraints

1. Target areas are very far from township seed and nursery farm as well as difficult to available tree seed seedlings.
2. Implemented terrace farms were scattered.
3. Target areas are very difficult to access with township, thus difficult to available forest and agricultural material.