Flooding erodes food security in the north

Extensive flooding has destroyed crops and aggravated chronic food insecurity in northern Sudan, the FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) warned on Wednesday. Following two consecutive years of serious drought, flooding had exacerbated the “already precarious food supply situation” in northern and eastern parts along the Nile, including areas around the capital, Khartoum, GIEWS stated in a special alert on Sudan. Although a full assessment of crop damage was not available, preliminary indications suggested “significant crop and livestock losses” in the north, it added. Even before the floods, prospects were poor for the 2001 main season cereal harvest. A late start to the rainy season and large-scale population displacement caused by escalation of conflict in the south meant fewer crops had been planted, GIEWS said. The report warned that the number of people in need of urgent food assistance in Sudan, estimated at three million earlier in the year, was set to increase with the floods: “The situation will worsen in the coming months unless timely and adequate assistance is provided,” GIEWS stated. [see report at: http://www.fao.org/giews/] Humanitarian agencies have reported tens of thousands of people fleeing their homes in recent weeks, as Sudan was hit by flash floods (in North/South/West Kordofan; North, South and West Darfur, Khartoum and White Nile states) and heavy flooding in the Nile River system (in Khartoum, Northern, River Nile, Gezira, Blue Nile, Sinnar and Upper Nile states). Tuesday’s FAO alert came on the same day the BBC reported that the threat of flooding in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, had eased, with the level of the River Nile in the city dropping rapidly. It quoted Dr Osman al-Tom, the official responsible for monitoring water levels in the capital, as saying that the water was falling fast, and that the immediate danger to the city appeared to have passed for the moment. Although the Nile had reached a critical level, the sudden surge of floodwaters that had been feared in Khartoum had not yet arisen, al-Tom said. He warned, however, that the fall in water levels could be temporary and that Khartoum could yet face the possibility of flooding before the end of the month if more rain fell in the Nile catchment areas of Ethiopia, the BBC reported on Tuesday. More than 1,000 families, especially in D’amir province, were facing severe hardship after losing their homes to flooding of the Atbara River in River Nile State, according to Sudanese television on Monday. The waters had completely engulfed 22 villages on both banks of the river, destroying crops and property, it said. Meanwhile, a joint Sudanese government and UN agency mission left on Tuesday to assess the situation in Sinnar State, where 500 homes and many farms have reportedly been lost to flooding, AFP news agency reported. Another team was due to leave by helicopter to River Nile State to assess relief needs prior to publicising a flood appeal, according to the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), cited in the report. The humanitarian situation in the affected areas was reported to be critical, and there was an urgent need for international assistance to rescue stranded people and provide them with food, drinking water, medicines and other assistance, the FAO reported in Tuesday’s special alert. The flooding had arrived in a context where overall prospects for the 2001 main-season cereal crop, normally harvested from October, were already poor, it said. That was largely as a result of late start to the rainy season in parts, together with large population displacement due to an escalation of the war in southern Sudan, reducing planting and potential yields. [see IRIN story of 3 August at: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/sudan/20010803.phtml] “The losses and yield reductions caused by the floods are likely to worsen the already unfavourable harvest outlook,” the FAO stated on Tuesday. Over the last two years, lower harvests coupled with virtual depletion of stocks have led to a sharp rise in cereal prices, reducing access to food for the poorer segments of the population. The purchasing power of large numbers of people, particularly pastoralists, has been seriously eroded. With coping mechanisms stretched to the limit, farmers and other vulnerable groups have migrated in search of work and food. An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission earlier this year estimated a cereal import requirement of 1.44 million mt in marketing year 2000/01 (November/October) - of which 1.2 million mt were expected to be covered commercially, while the remaining was expected to be met by food aid. International food aid pledges cover only a fraction of the requirements so far. “The number of people in need of urgent food assistance, estimated at some three million earlier in the year, due to drought and/or civil war, is set to increase with current floods,” the FAO stated.