Cereal production expected to drop

Cereal production in the 2002-2003 agricultural season in Guinea-Bissau is expected to be 12 percent less than in 2001-2002 because of insufficient rainfall in the second half of last year, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in its Emergency Report No. 6 on 7 February. The UN agency said it was "closely monitoring the food security situation in view of a possible need to increase food assistance around May/June when households have depleted their stocks of rice". WFP assistance to Guinea-Bissau takes the form of initiatives such as food-for-work, school feeding, health and nutrition and food-for-training programmes, under which over 22,900 beneficiaries were assisted and 240 mt of food distributed during the month of January. However, due to the late arrival of a food shipment, WFP was forced to reduce the number of children assisted under its school feeding programme, according to the agency. It also said that unless the food commodities it has appealed for reach Bissau on time, serious breaks in all food pipelines are anticipated as of 31 June, when the country is most likely to face food deficits.