FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 02/01 - SOMALIA* (14 February)
Harvesting of the 2000/01 secondary "Deyr" cereal crop, normally accounting for some 25-30 percent of annual cereal production, is underway. Preliminary estimates of the area planted indicate an increase of about 51 percent, compared to the previous Deyr season for the sorghum crop, to about 207 000 hectares, and a decrease of 21 percent for the maize crop to nearly 71 000 hectares. The total cereal production for the 2000/01 Deyr season is forecast at about 110 000 tonnes, close to last year’s good Deyr harvest.
The main 2000 "Gu" season, harvested until last September, was estimated at 212 000 tonnes of cereals, about 22 percent above the post-war (1993-1999) average due to widespread rains and improved security in parts.
The overall food supply situation in parts of southern Somalia has improved in the last 6 months with better Gu and Deyr harvests. However, recent nutrition surveys indicate continued high malnutrition rates, reflecting slow household recovery from the succession of droughts and long-term effects of years of insecurity. Moreover, the recent injection of new currency into the market with the attendant depreciation of the Somali Shilling have caused a sharp increase in prices of food items and essential goods.
Elsewhere, in north-western Somalia (Somaliland) and north- eastern Somalia (Puntland), favourable rainfall in recent months has improved pasture and livestock conditions. However, the ban of livestock imports from eastern Africa by countries along the Arabian Peninsula due to a Rift Valley fever has caused substantial loss of income and has threatened the livelihoods of a large number of pastoral households, particularly in the Haud region of Togdeer.
Food aid distributed by WFP was close to 1 100 tonnes during the month of December, both in southern and northern Somalia bringing the total distributed from January to December 2000 to 16 845 tonnes.
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