FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 01/00 - AFGHANISTAN* (7 February)

AFGHANISTAN* (7 February)

Cereal production, for harvest from May/June, is expected to be constrained by shortage of agricultural inputs and persistent insecurity in the provinces of the north, which comprise some 40 percent of the country's irrigated area. Due to low level of precipitation and outbreak of pests, total cereal production in 1999 is estimated at 3.24 million tonnes (rice in paddy equivalent), about 16 percent below the previous year's bumper output of 3.86 million tonnes.

The food situation is tight for the displaced population. Recent reports indicate that nearly 350 000 internally displaced people in Kabul alone are being targeted by WFP. In 1999, food aid has been distributed to more than 60 000 vulnerable households in the central highlands and to some 8 000 people in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan.

Commercial imports of cereals in 1999/2000 are forecast at 800 000 tonnes, about one-third higher than the previous year due to increased private sector activity, cash crop production and active cross-border trade. This compares with a cereal import requirement of about 1.1 million tonnes, of which more than 95 percent is wheat.

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