FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/01 - SWAZILAND (8 June)
An FAO/WFP Crop and Supply Assessment Mission visited Swaziland from 16 to 28 May 2001, to review harvest prospects and the overall food supply situation, and to estimate cereal import requirements, including food aid, if any, for the 2001/02 marketing year.
The Mission forecast the 2000/01 maize production at 73 000 tonnes, which is about 66 percent of the last five years average. Swaziland does not produce other cereal crops, except for a few hundred tonnes of sorghum. Other crops like sweet potato, beans and cowpeas are produced but in small and declining quantities. Field observations by the Mission indicated that production of these crops has also been lower than average.
The reduction in maize production was particularly serious in the Middle and Lowerveld where late planted crops were affected at the critical flowering /tasseling stage. The early- planted crops escaped the drought and generally produced good yields. For the 2001/02 marketing year (April-March), domestic cereal supply, estimated at 85 000 tonnes, falls far short of national consumption requirements. With a mid-marketing year population estimate of 1 034 000, cereal import requirement was estimated at 123 000 tonnes. The Mission estimated that the requirement will be fully covered by commercial imports. Even in normal years, Swaziland�s cereal production covers only 60 percent of its domestic consumption requirements. The one-to-one convertibility of the local currency with the South African Rand means that availability of foreign exchange is not a major constraint to commercial imports from South Africa.
Nonetheless, because of reduced production, food shortages may be experienced by the most affected households and other vulnerable population groups, which will need food assistance. A needs assessment is currently being conducted jointly by the Disaster Management Task Force and NGOs in drought affected areas. This exercise will be important in targeting more precisely the vulnerable groups that should be assisted.