SUDAN* (1 May)
Harvesting of the 2003 wheat crop is complete and output is expected to be similar to last year’s crop. The 2003/04 (marketing year) total cereal production is now estimated at 5.9 million tonnes, about 54 percent above last year’s crop and about 36 percent above the average of the last five years.
Despite the overall good harvest, the escalating civil conflict in the west has resulted in massive displacements of over a million people, and access to food has been sharply curtailed. People have lost the bulk of their last harvest. With the conflict still unabated, the next planting season is jeopardised.
An Emergency Operation was jointly approved in April 2004 by FAO and WFP for food assistance for 1.18 million people affected by war in Greater Darfur, worth US$99.4 million for a period of 9 months (1 April 2004 to 31 December 2004).