Africa Report - No. 1 April 2005

FAO/GIEWS: Africa Report No.1 - April 2005 p.34

LESOTHO

The estimated 2004 cereal production is estimated at 49ďż˝000 tonnes, less than half of the previous year. Consequently, the country needs to import 352ďż˝000 tonnes (or 85 percent of its total requirements) of cereals to cover domestic consumption requirements, including 49ďż˝000 tonnes of food aid for vulnerable groups who experienced crop failure.

CEREAL SUPPLY/DEMAND BALANCE FOR THE 2004/05 MARKETING YEAR (April/March)
ďż˝	Wheat	Rice	Coarse Grains	Total Cereals
ďż˝	[	thousand tonnes		]
Previous year production (incl. paddy rice)	37	-	82	119
Previous five years average production (incl. paddy rice)	24	-	132	156
Previous year imports	66	10	165	241
Previous five years average imports	62	9	163	234
2004/05 Domestic Availability	25	-	39	64
2004 Production (incl. paddy rice)	13	-	36	49
2004 Production (incl. milled rice)	13	-	36	49
Possible stock drawdown	12	-	3	15
2004/05 Utilization	96	3	317	416
Food use	95	3	314	413
Non-food use	1	-	2	3
Exports or re-exports	-	-	-	-
Possible stock build up	-	-	-	-
2004/05 Import Requirement	71	3	278	352
Anticipated commercial imports	71	3	229	303
of which: received or contracted	58	-	111	169
Food aid needs	-	-	49	49
Current Aid Position	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝
Food aid pledges	-	-	6	6
of which: delivered	-	-	6	6
Donor-financed purchases	-	-	33	33
of which: for local use	-	-	33	33
for export	-	-	-	-
Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/year)	42	1	139	182
Indexes	[	percentage		]
2004 Production compared to average (incl. paddy rice)	54	-	28	32
2004/05 Import requirement compared to average	114	33	170	150
Cereal share of total calorie intake	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝	78
Additional Information	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝
Major foodcrops	maize; sorghum; vegetables
Lean season	February-April
Population (000s)	2 264	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝
GNI per capita in 2003 (US$)	590	ďż˝	ďż˝	ďż˝

FAO/GIEWSďż˝-ďż˝April 2005