Cereal crop normal - FAO

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said in an August report that the 2000 cereal crop in southern Africa is expected to be “normal, notwithstanding the damage caused by floods and cyclones in some parts”. The FAO said that harvesting of the main cereal crops was almost complete in most countries of the region and that generally, southern Africa’s cereal production, mainly maize, was forecast to be above normal and the food supply situation satisfactory. It cautioned, however, that continued food assistance was required in areas affected by the recent floods and cyclones, mainly Mozambique and Madagascar. “In Angola, however, the food situation of some 2.6 million Internally Displaced Persons is said to be precarious”, the FAO noted.