FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/01 - NAMIBIA (5 June)
A delay in the start of the rainy season, coupled with severe dry weather in January and first dekad of February in the major cereal growing areas of the north, resulted in planting reductions and poor yields. Maize production in 2001 is tentatively estimated at 45 percent below the satisfactory harvest of last year at 27 000 tonnes. Production is also 10 percent lower than the average of the past five years. Estimates of the sorghum/millet harvest, accounting for two- thirds of the total cereal production, are not yet available, but the output is expected to decline from the below-normal level of last year.
As a result of the sharply reduced maize harvest, imports of coarse grains in marketing year 2001/02 (April/March) are projected at 80 000 tonnes, compared to 60 000 tonnes in the previous year. In addition, the country needs to import 45 000 tonnes of wheat, the crop for which it has a structural deficit. Although all import requirements are expected to be covered on commercial basis, the food supply situation is anticipated to be very tight for small farmers who experienced crop failure this season.