FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/99 - NAMIBIA (2 June)
Harvesting of the 1999 coarse grains is almost completed. Provisional forecasts point to an output 25 percent higher than last year's poor level but still below average. Output of millet and sorghum is forecast to double to 60 000 tonnes but that of maize, at 7 000 tonnes, is just half that of 1998. The area planted and yields were affected by erratic and poorly distributed rains from the beginning of the season. Prolonged dry spells and high temperatures in January, February and March lowered yields.
The tight food supply situation, following the drought- reduced 1998 cereal crop, has eased somewhat with the arrival of the new harvest. Cereal import requirements are forecast to decline to some 130 000 tonnes in the 1999/2000 marketing year (May/April).
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