FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/01 - LIBERIA* (6 November)
Following below average rains in early September, precipitation improved in late September and early October except in the south. Rains remained abundant in mid and late October in the north. Growing conditions are generally good allowing satisfactory rice crop development. Rice is about to be harvested and prospects are generally favourable.
Food supply difficulties persist, as domestic production has not fully recovered from several years of civil war. It is estimated that there are a total of about 70 000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia, mainly in Lofa county, one of Liberia�s main rice producing areas, where recent fighting has disrupted farming and displaced thousands of people. Food distributions are underway in IDPs camps but some areas remain inaccessible to relief agencies, notably in Gbarpolu County, near the Sierra Leone border.