Rains and subsidies boost production

Good rains and input subsidies for subsistence farmers helped Zambia's food crop recovery at the national level, according to the latest Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) report. Maize production in the 2002/03 season was double that of 2001/02, with the majority of districts achieving a 100 percent increase over last year's production. Access to cereals and other food has improved with a continued fall in the prices of maize, and the staple mealie meal. Despite a false start to the season, most crops made a "remarkable recovery" later in the season, except in the southern parts of Zambia where replanting was necessary in most cases, FEWS NET said. "The government's 50 percent input subsidy programme for small-scale farmers, which allowed around 120,000 farmers to obtain seed and fertiliser, helped boost production," FEWS NET said. Commercial farmers, mainly those who planted irrigated maize, also contributed substantially to the overall production numbers, providing 36 percent of the national total. The southern province performed slightly better than expected because it was one of the major beneficiaries of the input subsidy programme. In addition, the province hosted a huge concentration of NGOs undertaking various recovery and relief operations aimed at increasing area planted and fertiliser use, which helped offset the effects of inconsistent rainfall. Improvements in food security means only 0.06 percent of the population (60,000 people) in six districts will require targeted relief of 1,369 mt of cereal over a five month period (October 2003 to February 2004). An additional 40,000 in four districts will require monitoring. The World Food Programme's Emergency Operation Programme, which was extended from March 2003 to June 2003, is winding up at the end of June, moving from an emergency operation to a recovery one, noted FEWS NET.