Shortage of seeds bodes ill for food security

Ethiopia faces a seed shortfall of about 30,000 metric tonnes which, aid agencies say, needs to be covered to avert another food crisis. Farmers have been complaining that they have no seeds and the planting season is quickly running out. The country requires some 23,000 mt of cereal seeds and 7,000 mt of pulses. A humanitarian source working in the seed sector said that unless farmers were able to plant seeds within the next few weeks there could be a disaster next year. "We need to secure the seeds and distribute them as soon as possible so the farmers can plant them," the source said on Tuesday. "This is becoming a matter of urgency." International donors were holding talks on Wednesday to try and overcome the shortfall – which totals around US$7 million. George Mburathi, head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation in Ethiopia, stressed the importance of seeds in averting future crises. “Food is important for survival but people have to be able to produce enough to eat for next year," he told IRIN. "Time is now running out. “If nothing is done in the next two weeks it will be very difficult for the seeds to reach the farmers because once it starts raining it will be difficult to move. This situation is more than critical. The critical time was when we appealed in April for extra seeds.” The UN's Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia has continually warned of the potential danger the country faces from the lack of seeds. It has called for the distribution of seeds to hungry farmers as a “top priority”. It is already too late to plant corn, the planting season for both sorghum and barley runs out in a matter of weeks, while wheat must be sown by July. Ethiopia now faces a food shortfall of some 1.5 million mt, needed to feed one-fifth of the population. Meanwhile Germany has announced that it is increasing its emergency support to Ethiopia by US $2.4 million to more than US $7 million, according to a statement from the German embassy in Addis Ababa. The additional funds will be earmarked for areas in the hard-hit provinces of Oromyia and Afar.