FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 10/00 - CAMBODIA (26 September)
Humanitarian and food supply concerns continue with the country still coping with the highest flood levels in 70 years. Although in parts the flood waters have begun receding, already over 135 people have been killed, with the possibility of more casualties. In addition to human casualties, some 5 000 livestock have also been killed. Seventeen of the country's 23 provinces were affected by floods and more than 270 000 hectares of rice damaged or destroyed. The economic damage to crops alone is officially estimated at around US $10 million. Serious food shortages and escalating food prices are reported in a number of areas, whilst there is also chronic shortage of drinking water. The government has declared a state of emergency in several provinces and requested international humanitarian assistance for 600 000 of the worst affected people. The country is normally prone to flooding during the rainy season between August and September, though this year flooding started in early July and has been more extensive than normal. In the last serious floods in 1996, 169 people were killed. The International Federation of the Red Cross has issued an appeal for US $1.6 million to assist flood victims in the country.
The main affects of the floods will be delays in ongoing land preparation, transplanting and planting of main wet season rice. Although the target for 2000/01 is 4.2 million tonnes, this now remains uncertain in view of the floods. In contrast to wide spread flood damage in the river delta, drought in parts such Kampong Spoe province destroyed rice nurseries further damaging overall prospects. Total 1999/2000 paddy production was a record estimated at a 4 million tonnes, some 500 000 tonnes or 14 percent above the previous year. Around 83 percent of paddy production is from the wet season crop, and the remainder from flood recession and dry season production. Rice also accounts for some 84 percent of annual food crop production and is planted on around 90 percent of cropped area, mainly in the Central Mekong Basin and Delta and the Tonle Sap Plain.
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