Food crop prospects in the Sahel mixed, FAO says

Food crop prospects in nine West African Sahelian countries are mixed with delayed onset of rainfall in Cape Verde, large-scale outbreak of grasshoppers in Guinea-Bissau, grain-eating birds in Mali and desert locusts in Niger, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported last Thursday. Prospects are favourable in Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania and Niger following generally widespread rains in July over most producing areas, FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) said. According to the report, small-scale breeding of desert locusts was expected with the onset of the summer rains in Chad, southern Mauritania, northern Mali and Niger. Large scale grasshopper infestation would however occur in Southern and Central Senegal. Early crop prospects in Senegal, which received limited rainfall until August, would be uncertain, GIEWS added in its third 2003 report on weather and crop conditions in the Sahelian countries of Western Africa. "As of mid-July, estimated cumulative rainfall totaled 40-60 percent of normal in much of Senegal's groundnut basin and mostly dry conditions still prevailed in the north," GIEWS said. Burkina Faso experienced widespread rains in July, permitting satisfactory crop development, the report said. Although rains decreased in June and late July, crops were growing satisfactorily, pastures were regenerating countrywide and no pest activity had been reported. In Chad, crops such as millet and sorghum were developing well due to widespread rains and pastures were regenerating countrywide. Reported locust occurrences would remain below threatening levels, GIEWS said. According to the report, rice was growing well in The Gambia, millet and sorghum were doing well in Mali. Crops including millet and sorghum were also doing well in Mauritania and Niger where rainfall was generally widespread above 2002 levels in meteorological stations. In Guinea-Bissau, large scale grasshopper infestations on sorghum, millet and maize compromised crop prospects, GIEWS said. "Over 50 percent of cereal production across the north is officially estimated to be at risk," it said. The grain eating birds in Mali "are reported on about 205 hectares of crops in the Office du Niger zone. Army worm attacks are also reported in the Office du Niger and treatments have been undertaken," the report said. The nine countries covered by the report are drought-prone nations belonging to the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CLISS). They lie within the Sahelian zones and receive rainfall ranging from 250 - 1100 mm annually. The full report can be found at: www.fao.org