Food supply improved in Sahel

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) said in its April report that food supply positions have improved in Sahelian countries of West Africa. The markets are generally well supplied in most countries following bumper harvests which have allowed the replenishment of farm and national food stocks, it said. Record harvests were gathered in Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, while production levels were above average in Chad and Niger. However, in Guinea-Bissau output is estimated to be below average due to the effects of military revolt that ended in 1999. "Despite some improvement in food production, Sierra Leone and Liberia remain heavily dependent on international food assistance," GIEWS said, citing internal strife and population displacement as causes.