Food situation deteriorating rapidly

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has expressed serious concern over the food situation in Somalia, saying it is deteriorating rapidly mainly due to drought. In its latest report, the FAO said the harvest gathered during the main cropping season of 2001 had been one of the poorest in the last seven years, caused by late and erratic rainfall. Some 800,000 people were experiencing food difficulties, with 300,000 people mainly in the southern regions threatened by starvation and in urgent need of food assistance. The situation was further aggravated by heavy rainfall in the neighbouring Ethiopian highlands which had caused rivers to overflow in southern Somalia, resulting in the displacement of large numbers of people. There were reports of increasing malnutrition and population movements in search of food and work. The report said about 70,000 mt of emergency food aid would be required until the next harvest season in August 2002. The worst-affected regions are Gedo, Hiran, Bay and Bakool. The report added that the continuing ban by Arabian Peninsula countries on livestock imports from east Africa due to Rift Valley fever was causing a substantial loss of income, particularly in northern Somalia. The ban, imposed in September 2000, has already cost the country hard currency earnings amounting to an estimated US $120 million. Prospects elsewhere in the Horn of Africa were generally better, although parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea continue to face difficulties. The report noted that in Eritrea, some 50,000 people displaced by the conflict with Ethiopia, were still in need of food assistance, while large tracts of land remained uncultivated for fear of mines. In Ethiopia, serious food shortages and migration of people and livestock were reported in the southeastern pastoral areas due to persistent drought. The country's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) in the Oromiya zone of Amhara state said over 93,000 people were in dire need of relief assistance as the seasonal rains had failed. The World Food Programme (WFP) said food distributions were continuing in the Somali region, where the October/November rains were uneven and insufficient in some places.