Slowly mending, says FAO/WFP

Food aid needs in Angola remain high despite increased agricultural production during the first year of peace, a joint Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) assessment mission has found. The FAO/WFP team visited Angola from 15 May to 10 June and noted that food aid needs remain high "because the reduction in internally displaced people (IDPs) has been offset by the rise in the number of refugees and demobilised soldiers returning to their homes", following the 2002 peace agreement. "The 2003 cereal production is estimated to be 23 percent higher than last year, at 670,249 mt, due to favourable rainfall conditions, ... an increase in the area under cultivation and substantial distribution of agricultural inputs," the mission reported. Other crops such as cassava, groundnuts, beans and sweet potatoes also showed improvement over last year's levels. However, "the number of people in need of food assistance will remain at around 1.4 million. WFP plans to assist over 1 million [of the] most vulnerable people, including returnee farmers, resettled farmers, socially vulnerable groups, IDPs still in areas of refuge, and vulnerable resident farmers," the report said. The numbers of people in need were "roughly the same as 12 months ago" and would require 219,000 mt of cereals, 24,000 mt of pulses, and smaller quantities of oil, sugar, salt and corn-soya blend to ward off starvation until the next harvest, an FAO statement added. The FAO/WFP mission observed that during Angola's nearly three decades of conflict, "agriculture fell to an almost subsistence level in many areas, with little or no marketable surpluses and very limited trade activity". "Consequently, the country has for many years relied on food imports, both commercial imports of wheat and rice, and food aid mostly in the form of maize and beans. With the ceasefire, however, and the new mobility of people and products throughout the country, the activity of local markets has been revitalised and is growing steadily." In all the areas visited by the mission "it was commonly found that the supply and the variety of foods in local markets have increased substantially from last year's levels". The country's agricultural potential, coupled with the return of farmers to their land, was likely to improve the food situation rapidly if favourable climate conditions continued. "It is possible and probable that, in the near future, Angola will no longer need food assistance from abroad and will even be capable of keeping strategic stocks of food for any eventual crisis or natural disaster. However, there is still much to be done in terms of agricultural rehabilitation and development. Most of the peasant population use only the hoe and the machete as tools. Only in the south is there use of draught animals," the report commented. Overall there was also insufficient organisation to produce and market crop surpluses. The report warned that "the country's potential to produce food should not divert attention from the immense task of social and economic development still to be accomplished".