BOTSWANA (19 May)
Dry weather during the first half of the season has adversely affected this year’s main cereal crops. In addition, prolonged heavy rains upstream of the Okavango River during March and April caused severe flooding downstream in Botswana. Nevertheless, prospects for 2004 harvest are considered near normal. The beef export industry is struggling to recover following droughts and outbreak of foot and mouth disease twice in the last three years. However, pasture conditions have improved in recent months. The 2003 cereal production, mainly sorghum, was sharply reduced from the year before due to dry weather. However, domestic production normally covers less than 10 percent of the country’s total cereal requirements, the rest coming from commercial imports.