FAO forecasts food prospects

Drought-stricken Eritrea is facing further poor rains, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. In a report issued on Wednesday, the FAO said “large parts of Eritrea” – reeling from a severe food crisis - would receive normal to below-normal rainfall. Some 2.3 million people are facing severe shortages due to “drought, poverty and the lingering effects of the war with Ethiopia”, it noted. However good rains in neighbouring Ethiopia were likely to lead to improved harvests, it stated. Some 13.2 million people in Ethiopia are currently dependent on food aid. “In eastern Africa, abundant rains in July and August generally improved the prospects for the 2003 cereal crops,” the FAO said in the report. “[But] several countries in the sub-region still face serious food difficulties,” it stressed. It added that globally, 38 countries were facing “serious food shortages” - 23 of them in Africa. “In many of these countries, food shortages are being compounded by the effect of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on food production, marketing and transport,” the FAO noted. An official of the World Food Programme in Ethiopia told IRIN it was still awaiting the results of the good rains in Ethiopia. “The impact of the generally good rains in Ethiopia this year will be better known when the results of multi-agency mid-season assessment teams, currently finalising their work, are released," said Paul Turnbull, head of WFP's Emergency Unit in Ethiopia. “However, it is clear that there are still some additional food requirements for 2003 that will need to be addressed.”