AFGHANISTAN (6 October)
Cereal harvesting in Afghanistan is complete and aggregate harvest is estimated at 5.3 million tonnes, a bumper harvest second only to the record harvest in 2003 but nearly 2.2 million tonnes up on last year’s drought reduced harvest. This year’s cereal harvest includes some 4.26 million tonnes of wheat, 325 000 tonnes of rice, 337 000 tonnes of barley and 315 000 tonnes of maize. Above average precipitation and irrigation water availability throughout the country were the main factors contributing to such a high level of output this year. Aggregate cereal import requirement for the 2005/06 marketing year is forecast at 356 000 tonnes including 110 000 tonnes in food aid. This aggregate is a record low and includes some 250 000 tonnes of wheat (imported mainly as wheat flour) and 140 000 tonnes of rice.
Under the current PRRO, WFP is implementing a winterization programme, which will have pre-positioned nearly 23 000 tonnes of food in remote and food insecure areas where access is difficult during winter. The food pre-positioning should be completed by 7 November. WFP will be presenting a new PRRO for Executive Board approval in November. The proposed PRRO shall focus on late recovery and early development and aims to support some 6.6 million Afghans in food-insecure areas through various activities, including food for work, food for training and food for education in partnership with the Government, non-government partners and communities. Target groups shall include poor and food-insecure households, internally displaced people, tuberculosis patients and their families, victims of natural disasters, schoolchildren, teachers and illiterate people. Capacity building of government counterparts will be an important element. The proposed PRRO shall continue to encourage joint programmes among partner United Nations agencies under the leadership of the Government.