More imported cereals needed this year

Sierra Leone will need to import 329,000 mt of cereals this year to make up for a shortfall and feed its roughly 4.5 million people, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said in a report on Friday. Estimated imports for 1999 were 290,000 mt, 13 percent less than at present. During the seven-year war, farmers lost their seeds, implements and other capital assets. There was large-scale destruction of infrastructure and rural instructions. Farm families have bee displaced and labour is scarce, FAO said. This year's cereal supply is estimated at 181,000 mt. Of the 5.24 million ha of arable land in the country, about 12-15 percent is under crop production, FAO said in its report, based on an assessment done from 29 November to 11 December 1999. [The report is available at http://www.fao.org/giews/ ]