Government seeks help for planting season

The Government of Guinea-Bissau has requested the assistance of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in preparing for the upcoming planting season following a bad harvest last year due to a shortage of rain. The ministry of agriculture has asked for FAO's expertise as well as assistance in kind, including seeds and tools, FAO sources in the capital, Bissau, told IRIN on Friday. According to the sources, the government has requested, among other things, over 900 tonnes of seed rice, 515 mt of peanuts, fertilizers, phyto-sanitary products, and 50 million FCFA [about US $80,000] worth of farming tools. However, the unpredictability of rains makes it difficult for food experts to foretell whether the upcoming season, which begins next month, will be successful or not, the sources said. Food production last year in Guinea-Bissau, and some other countries in the Sahel, was below par due mainly to a lack of rainfall. Populations in nearby Senegal, Mali and The Gambia were affected by food shortages. In Mauritania, a prolonged drought has had a negative impact on harvests and food security. The Mauritanian authorities, with the help of the World Food Programme, has launched several appeals for food aid. An FAO mission which travelled to Bissau and the hinterland of Guinea-Bissau said that a key aspect of food security was ensuring that food was available between the planting and harvesting seasons. In many Sahelian countries, that interim period is often a time of food insecurity because of insufficient harvests.