FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 04/02 - NAMIBIA (23 April)
Normal to above-normal rains in February and March benefited the developing 2002 cereal crops. However, precipitation arrived too late to prevent yield reductions in the maize crop already affected by a prolonged dry spell in January. The area planted to millet/sorghum and maize was reduced due to insufficient rains at planting time. Latest estimates indicate an area planted to cereals of 216 000 hectares, comprising 195 400 hectares of sorghum and 20 600 hectares of maize. This is 20 percent lower than last year. The coarse grains output is forecast at 82 000 tonnes, 20 percent below the cereal crop of 2001. The already tight food supply situation for farmers who gathered a poor harvest last year, and for vulnerable groups in urban areas, is expected to deteriorate in marketing year 2002/2003 (May/April).