There may be a global food crisis, but few countries are feeling the pinch like Burma. And for thousands of people in the Irrawaddy delta, desperate times lie ahead... RANGOON — "MA Thein is a senior clerk at the Ministry of Industry in Rangoon. Her husband sells medical supplies, and her son works in a noodle factory. They all work full-time. Despite the family?s combined earnings of 140,000 kyat (US $117) per month, she still can?t afford to put one balanced meal on the table each day. In June, the United Nations met in Rome to discuss the global food crisis. Prices of staple foods were going through the roof and food riots had broken out across the world, from Egypt to Indonesia to Peru. But Ma Thein didn?t have to watch the news on TV to know there was a food crisis, nor did anyone else in Burma. The unstable economy, international sanctions, corruption, bird flu epidemics and a poor annual rice harvest had already pushed food prices higher this year. Then, on May 2-3, Cyclone Nargis ravaged the Irrawaddy delta, the source of 90 percent of Burma?s rice and the majority of its agricultural produce. Overnight, 2.5 million acres (more than 1 million hectares) of rice paddies were inundated with seawater and an estimated 150,000 livestock were killed. The Irrawaddy delta—the so-called ?rice bowl? of Burma—was devastated..."