FAO report says nearly 10 million people need emergency food aid

Nearly 10 million people in sub-Saharan Africa need emergency food assistance, according to a report released on Monday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In Somalia alone, "one million people are facing serious food shortages, with over 400,000 at risk of starvation." The report, Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub Saharan Africa, says the food outlook in Somalia for 1999 and beyond is "extremely grim, due to the cumulative effects of adverse weather, the long running civil war and uncontrolled crop pests and diseases." The current main season cereal crop has failed due to erratic and insufficient rainfall, armyworm outbreaks and unusually high temperatures. It is the seventh consecutive poor harvest since 1996, says the report. For more details and breakdown by country, see www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/other/19990809.htm