MALI (30 May)
The first significant rains were registered in the extreme south in mid-April. They progressed northwards and remained generally adequate in the south, allowing land preparation and first plantings of millet and sorghum to start.
The final official estimate of 2002 cereal production is about 2.5 million tonnes, which is average. Cereal import requirements in 2002/03 (November/October) are forecast at 279 000 tonnes of which about 261 000 tonnes or 93 percent are anticipated to be covered commercially. The overall food supply situation is satisfactory except in the west where it is tight, and the return of some 130 000 Malians from Côte d’Ivoire is putting considerable pressure on the available supply.