Farmers particularly in cyclone-affected areas are being hit by fluctuating prices for agricultural products and
inputs. UNDP (2009) has reported that small and medium-sized rice farmers struggle to produce with positive
margins. Agriculture still is the most important sector, representing 42 percent of GDP and 70 percent of the labor
force.5
Less supportive commodity prices in 2009 will result in even lower farm incomes. This makes it particularly
hard to service any loans that they may have received from money lenders to buy inputs such as fertilizer, seeds,
and machinery. Furthermore, farmers in the cyclone-affected areas around the Irrawaddy Delta have had to cope
with the loss of livelihood assets that were destroyed during the cyclone period in 2008.