Assessment team finds crop production satisfactory

Rwanda's crop production in the first half of 2003 is satisfactory, according to the findings of an assessment team commissioned by the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), in collaboration with the World Food Programme, the European Union and the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture. FEWS Net reported on Wednesday that the assessment team had found that at national level, the consumption needs for the period under review were nearly met, with an estimated 2,008 kilocalories per capita per day (against a norm of 2,100 kcal available from domestic production). However, the report said that production in three out of 11 provinces remains "well below" consumption needs. Some districts in Gikongoro, Butare and Kibuye provinces may experience moderate to high food insecurity, according to the assessment. The situation is not worrying in the other provinces as crop production "is about adequate" although drought-prone zones of Umutara and Kibungo provinces have experienced severe production shortfalls. The report projected that if relief food donations to humanitarian agencies remained at their current level (about 22,000 mt per semester), the agencies would be able to respond adequately to anticipated requests for aid up to June. The food security in the second half of the year will depend on the performance of the February-July 2003 season, the report said. The report