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This article explores some of the realities of supporting income generation for displaced people in conflict settings, drawing on experiences in Kachin, northern Myanmar, suggesting development and humanitarian actors need to better acknowledge limitations and rethink our approaches.
Since the 2011 resumption of war between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatamadaw), over 100,000 people continue to be displaced, predominantly from rural, agricultural settings, into urban-based camps with little to no access to land. Ongoing fighting and insecurity means returns home are largely impossible. Escalating armed conflict since mid 2016 and continuing today has displaced or re-displaced over 6,000 people in Kachin, stretching declining humanitarian resources further as needs increase.
Speak with any displaced person and lack of income is one of their primary concerns. But options are limited, and vulnerable to outside shocks. In the shift from farming to urban settings, making an income is difficult, exacerbated by internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) arrival creating labour market saturation. This can also create tension between host communities and IDPs, especially through labour market competition and contestation over resources, often as basic as firewood. The importance of income is about both the material benefit and improving social cohesion...
