Food situation "very tight" for border communities

In Eritrea, despite a satisfactory harvest in 1998, the food situation was very tight for people displaced by the war with Ethiopia, particularly for farmers around Gash-Barka and Debub, according to the FAO report. Inadequate rainfall on the Red Sea and adjoining areas would also mean serious shortages of grains and pasture in the provinces of Semenawi and Keih Bahri, while an army worm infestation had particularly hit Anseba province. Some 16,000 mt from a food aid requirement had so far been pledged, the report stated, adding that food would continue to be provided to 268,000 war-affected people, including 21,5000 deportees from Ethiopia, in a joint WFP/FAO emergency operation.