GUINEA-BISSAU (8 May)
Final 2003 production figures have been released by the government and are significantly lower than the estimates of the CILSS Crop Assessment Mission in October 2003. The aggregate output of cereals is now estimated at 121 455 tonnes, which is 19.8 percent below the 2002 level and 20 percent below the average for the previous five years. Cashew nut production, the main export of the country and main source of income for farmers, also declined in 2003, which along with lower producer prices affected farmers’ purchasing power. Although staple food prices remain stable, close monitoring of the food supply position of the people living in the chronically food-deficit areas along the border with Senegal is recommended.
Import requirement of cereals in the marketing year ending in October 2004 is forecast at some 72 000 tonnes, including 14 000 tonnes of food aid.