FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 04/01 - IRAQ* (27 March)
Prospects for the 2001 cereal harvest in May/June remain uncertain. Lingering effects of two consecutive years of severe drought and inadequate availability of essential agricultural inputs are constraining production.
An FAO/WFP/WHO Food Supply and Nutrition Assessment Mission in May 2000 found that in the most affected centre/south areas, not only were the plantings reduced, but also some 75 percent of the cropped area under wheat and barley was heavily damaged and mostly used as grazing for livestock. Cereal yields were reduced to all time low levels. As a result, total cereal production in 2000, estimated at some 796 000 tonnes, is about 47 percent below 1999 and 64 percent below the average of the past 5 years.
In December 2000, the UN Security Council approved the ninth phase of the SCR 986 "Oil-for-food" programme, from January to June, to buy food, medicine and health supplies, and for emergency repairs to infrastructure. In March 2000, the oil spare parts allocation was doubled from US$300 million to US$600 million to help the replacement of ageing equipment. Cereal imports under the oil-for-food deal have led to significant improvements in the food supply situation. However, long delays in the flow of food imports continue to be reported. Also, despite significant increases in the food ration since SCR 986, child malnutrition rates in the centre/south of the country do not appear to have improved significantly and nutritional problems remain serious and widespread. The existing food rations do not provide a nutritionally adequate and varied diet which is lacking in vegetables, fruit, and animal products and is therefore deficient in micro-nutrients.
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