FAO highlights mixed outlook for food crops

The spectre of another drought is haunting several countries in the Horn of Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a new report on food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, released in Rome on Wednesday. The report, issued by the agency's Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), draws attention to the current food-supply situation in 17 crisis-hit countries, and focuses on prospects for the current season's crops and on food-assistance requirements. The report highlights Sudan and Somalia as two countries in the Horn of Africa subregion where serious food shortages are anticipated in the coming months. In Sudan, where the number of people needing assistance is currently estimated at 3 million, the recent escalation of the conflict in the south has aggravated the precarious food situation, already exacerbated by drought, FAO says. In Somalia, prospects for the Gu season's cereal crops are poor as a result of erratic main season rains, and production of sorghum is forecast to be less than half the post-war average. Despite the good harvests in the last two cropping seasons, the report says severe food difficulties may emerge, reflecting slow household recovery from the earlier sequence of droughts and the long-term effects of chronic insecurity. FAO says a sharp increase in food prices has eroded the purchasing power of many people. The report also notes the impact of deteriorating pasture conditions in the north, and the substantial loss of income resulting from the ban on livestock imports from the Horn of Africa by some Gulf states. In Eritrea, FAO say the outlook for the 2001 main season cereal and pulse crops is also unfavourable, reflecting a failure of the short rains from March to May. Although many war-displaced farmers have returned home in the past few months, in the main producing regions of Gash Barka and Debub, large tracts of land are still inaccessible due to land mines. In Ethiopia, the secondary Belg crop, which accounts for 7 to 10 percent of aggregate cereal production in the country, is expected to be favourable, reflecting generally adequate rains in the central highlands. Prospects for a good 2001 main season Meher harvest, however, still depend on continued favourable weather conditions until harvest in November/December. Full FAO report