FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/00 - ERITREA* (6 November)
Despite favorable rains in September and October in some regions of the country, mainly Debub and Gash Barka, prospects for 2000 main season cereal and pulse crops for harvest from November are bleak, due mainly to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of farmers by war with neighboring Ethiopia. In addition, official government meteorological sources indicated that there was a decrease in the spatial distribution of the rainfall throughout the country during the rainy season. This was aggravated by the unseasonable rainfall during early November, which has had a potential negative effect on the current harvest. Gash Barka and Debub administrative zones (Zobas), which are the country's main grain producing areas, normally supplying more than 75 percent of Eritrea's cereal production, have been at the centre of the recent clashes and may have little or no harvest in 2000. As the next harvest is only expected in November/December 2001, these regions known as "the bread basket of Eritrea", together with other parts will depend on emergency relief food for at least the next 18 months.
The food situation of more than 1.5 million people displaced/affected by war gives cause for serious concern. The failure of rainy seasons in Anseba, Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea administrative zones has also severely affected nearly 340 000 people.
In October, WFP distributed a total of 15 871 tonnes of food to 808 822 war and drought affected people. In June 2000, FAO and WFP jointly approved an Emergency Operation, EMOP6044.01"Food Assistance to war affected populations in Eritrea" for a total of 151 080 tonnes of food for the period 1 May 2000 to 30 April 2001. This complemented an Emergency Operation, EMOP 6227.00 �Assistance to victims of crop failure and drought in Eritrea" for a total of 19 390 tonnes of food for the period 1 April to 31 December 2000 approved jointly by FAO and WFP on 10 April 2000.
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