Residents fret as food prices soar after locust swarms and poor rains

Already-impoverished residents in Mali have watched in bewilderment as food prices spiral higher after last year's locusts swarms and poor rains combined to shrivel crops. A recent study from Mali's Department of National Commerce and Competition (DNCC), a copy of which was obtained by IRIN, shows prices of some basic food stuffs rising as much as 65 percent between the start of 2004 and 2005. Malians were paying on average 269 CFA (54 US cents) for a kilogramme of rice in January this year, an increase of almost 15 percent in 12 months. Locally produced grains like millet and sorghum have been even more affected. Millet surged 33 percent to 97 CFA (20 US cents) a kilo, while sorghum was now 50 percent more expensive at 102 CFA (21 US cents). But the hardest-hit product was corn, which rocketed 65 percent to 109 CFA (22 cents). "The price of the essential food stuffs has gone up so much, it's like they've taken the elevator," moaned Amadou Guindo, a teacher on the outskirts of the capital Bamako. "Everything we earn is being eaten up by the cost of food," agreed Kante Hantou Diallo, a housewife shopping at the market. Mary Diallo, the coordinator of the government's early warning department (SAP), blames the invasion of crop munching-locusts and a lack of rains for the price hikes. Agricultural production in 2004/2005 dropped to 2.8 million tonnes, about 600,000 tonnes down on the previous harvest, he said. But cereal vendors say that high higher fuel prices and transport costs are also forcing them to charge more for their grains. One vendor at a Bamako market, Hamidou Fofana, explained the cost of getting to the capital from Gao had risen to 14,000 CFA (US$ 28) from 11,000 CFA (US$ 22) over the last few months. The World Bank estimates that around 70 percent of the country's 11 million inhabitants are living on less than a dollar a day. Government officials have said more than a million people will need food aid in 2005. The worst-affected area is Mopti, a district northeast of Bamako, that straddles the delta of the Niger River and is the rice growing centre of the country. And the situation has deteriorated since the end of 2004. In October 83 districts were identified as needing food assistance, but this had leapt to 101 districts by the start of 2005. "Today the situation is alarming," Lansry Nana Yaya Haidara, Mali's Food Security Chief told IRIN. She said that authorities had this week recommended that almost 21,000 tonnes of cereals should be distributed free of charge to people living in the worst-hit regions. But Haidara warned that Mali did not have the resources to deal with a food crisis on its own and appealed to donors to help the government. Relief organizations are working with the Malian government to provide food aid. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is about to launch an emergency operation to give 12,000 tons of food to the most vulnerable people and provide food in exchange for work for others. Meanwhile Oxfam plans to hand out rations to 2,100 families in the Gao region for two months.