Food situation "very tight"

The drought along the coastal areas was particularly severe, affecting crops and pasture, while those displaced by the war with Ethiopia were particularly food insecure, a briefing from the FAO and Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) stated on Monday. The price of cereals - particularly of wheat and barley - was unseasonably high and the food situation was "very tight" for nearly 600,000 people, the report said. UN agencies had appealed for $42.7 million in January, to cover 62,800 mt of food aid to cover 372,000 people affected by war and over 211,000 hit by drought, but total pledges as of mid-March amounted to 12,000 mt, it added. The situation could not be compared to the crisis in Ethiopia, a press release from the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Monday.