FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/01 - ANGOLA* (8 June)
An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited Angola from 5 - 27 May 2001 to estimate crop production from the 2000/01 season, as well as the cereal import requirements and food aid in the 2001/02 marketing year (April/March). The Mission made field visits to 8 out of the 18 provinces. Plans had been made to visit 10 provinces, but the security situation was very fluid and the plans had to be changed at the last minute.
The Mission found that the security situation has improved, as the Government has military control over all provincial and most municipal centres, with an expansion of the secure areas around these centres. However, UNITA is still mounting guerrilla attacks in many areas, thereby restricting operations by the Government, aid agencies and NGOs to the areas immediately surrounding the administrative centres. Most food aid and essential commodities have still to be transported by air from Luanda. Insecurity and poor road conditions continue to disrupt marketing activities. Although very few IDPs have been able to return to their original homes, there has been good progress in allocating land to IDPs within the secure areas. Some 218 000 IDPs and returnees have been recorded as being active in farming during the 2000/01 season. New IDPs are still arriving and the current estimate of the total number (old and new) is reported to be 2.7 million compared to 2.6 million last year. About 1.34 million are still in need of food aid.
The area planted to coarse grains in the 2000/01 season is estimated at 995 000 hectares, an increase of 13 percent from 1999/00. Output is estimated at 577 000 tonnes, against 500 000 tonnes last year. The increase in production is largely attributed to higher sowings, as a result of improved security conditions at planting time; allocation of land to IDPs; improved agricultural input distribution and natural increase of population. In spite of a severe mid-season dry spell in northern areas, weather conditions were generally favourable in the main cereal growing areas of the centre and south. Maize harvest is estimated at 429 000 tonnes, 9 percent above last year�s level, with larger plantings partially offset by crop losses in the northern provinces. Millet and sorghum production is estimated, at 148 000 tonnes, up by nearly 30 percent on last year. This reflects a sharp increase in the area planted and the effect of good rains in the south. The bean crop is estimated at 71 000 tonnes, down 10 percent from last year, also as a result of dry spells in the north. Cassava estimate for 2000/01 is 5.3 million tonnes compared to 4.4 million tonnes in the previous year.
Reflecting the improved production, the food deficit in marketing year 2001/02 (April/March) has decreased to 581 000 tonnes of cereals. This includes 48 000 tonnes of maize, 107 tonnes of rice and 250 000 tonnes of wheat. Commercial imports are forecast at 405 000 tonnes of cereals, leaving 176 000 tonnes to be covered by food aid. By the end of May food aid pledges amounted to 33 000 tonnes.