Eritrea: 2.3 million drought-stricken people need food aid, UN
18 January 2005 – After droughts and
delayed rains, some 2.3 million people in Eritrea will need more than quarter
of a million tons in food aid this year to supplement the inadequate harvest
they have produced, the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) said today. Cereal production late last year was forecast to
be about 85 tons, less than half of the average of the last 12 years, another
80 tons was to be purchased and 80 tons donated, leaving the need at 262,000
tons, FAO said.
The failure of the March to May Azmera rains, during which
farmers prepare the land, plus the unusually short June to September Kremti
growth rains not only reduced cereal production, but forced pastoralists to
move their herds early and would result in shortages of animal feed early this
year.
FAO called for short-cycle cereal seed varieties to be
provided, in case this year’s weather follows the pattern of the last several
years.