Myanmar garment workers face malnutrition risk

YANGON – More than half of garment industry workers in Myamar said they plan to spend reduce spending on food as the impact of COVID-19 and cancelled orders from brands throws the industry into chaos. A survey of workers impacted by factories buckling under the strain of collapsing order books found 58 per cent of laid-off workers would cut down spending on food, while more than half (54 per cent) of workers still in work would also reduce food spending as they lost valuable overtime. Previous research on Myanmar garment workers has indicated diets which are often protein deficient due to lack of adequate earnings. The researchers said they “expect this crisis will quickly provoke malnutrition among a population of several hundred thousand workers.”