FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 04/99 - ALBANIA (9 April)
No significant change is expected in cereal output in 1999. Wheat production is expected to remain about 350 000 to 400 000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of about 350 000 tonnes to be imported in 1999/2000 to meet normal consumption requirements. With regard to the current 1998/99 marketing year, supplies of wheat in the major urban centres have been generally sufficient to meet demand.
The food supply situation in the rural communities in the isolated north-eastern parts of the country, which is normally difficult throughout the winter, has worsened in recent weeks due to the massive increase in the number of refugees crossing the border from the neighbouring Kosovo Province in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Relief operations for refugees and to support local families hosting refugees have been ongoing throughout the winter, but international assistance has now been stepped up to a massive scale. As of early April, UNHCR reported that Albania was hosting some 300 000 refugees.
In view of the rapidly evolving situation, which is likely to have long-term food security implications for the region, FAO has fielded a mission to Albania in early April to identify assistance likely to be necessary in the near future for refugees and the host families engaged in agriculture.
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