Rome 21 February -The UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) is today appealing for
US$1 537 066 towards assistance to 77 720
drought-affected farming households in western regions
of Georgia.
Two
years of drought have resulted in an emergency
situation. With a maize yield of only 17 percent of
normal in 2001, a large proportion of the 160 000 households in
western regions of Georgia will not have enough good seed and
other necessary agricultural inputs to plant their main
subsistence crop, maize, in time for the spring 2002 season, FAO
said.
"Without external
assistance this year, fields will go unplanted or will be
planted late, with poor quality seed and no
fertilizer," said the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) in an appeal issued today. "The
prospect is for a downward spiral into extended food aid
dependence from which recovery will be slow, uncertain and
costly in terms of human welfare," FAO said. Already -
despite food aid delivered by the World Food Programme - the
average caloric intake in the area has fallen by 20 percent in
the past 18 months. The proportion of individuals consuming less
than 2 100 calories per day has doubled, from 24 percent to 47
percent.
FAO will distribute quality maize
seed and fertilizer to resident households in the areas of
Samegrelo, Guria and Racha-Lechkhumi, as well as to Internally
Displaced Persons in quantities sufficient for each of the 77
720 families to plant half a hectare of land for the 2002 spring
planting season. Maize is the principal food grain produced in
western regions of Georgia, representing some 85 percent of the
annual cropland. It is also the main staple food consumed by
Georgian people.
In addition - thanks to
contributions from the Governments of Italy, Turkey and the
United States, as well as with funding from its own resources -
FAO is initiating an emergency maize seed and fertilizer
distribution programme in the area of Imereti, targeting a
further 43 500 vulnerable farm families.
For more information please contact the FAO Media
Relations office at +39 06 5705 3625.
