SIERRA LEONE* (8 October)
Heavy rains and flooding in the southern district of Pujehun destroyed many homes and acres of farmland and made thousands of people homeless in mid-August. In response, WFP provided 51 tonnes of emergency food aid to 6 934 families in targeted communities. However, agriculture, which has been recovering steadily since the end of the civil war in 2002, is expected to improve further this year, reflecting increasing plantings by returning refugees and farmers previously displaced, as well as improved conditions for the distribution of agricultural inputs. Harvesting of the rice crop is expected to start soon.
The security situation in the country remains calm. The repatriation of the estimated 65 000 Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone has been suspended after heavy rains made roads impassable. From October 2001 to July 2004, about 56 000 Sierra Leonean refugees have been repatriated and an estimated 1 million internally displaced people have been resettled either with assistance or spontaneously.