SUDAN* (2 June)
Harvesting of the 2003 wheat crop is complete and output is forecast at 296 000 tonnes, about 27 percent above the previous five years’ average. The 2002/03 total cereal production, estimated at about 3.8 million tonnes, is nearly 30 percent below the previous year's crop and about 14 percent below the average of the last five years.
Serious food shortages have emerged in several parts of the country and prices, particularly for sorghum, are higher than normal at this time of the year. Food security monitoring assessments conducted since January have confirmed that 1.9 million people in southern Sudan will need food assistance estimated at 101 000 tonnes until the next harvest in September 2003. About 700 000 of these were identified as highly food insecure and have been receiving food aid since January. In April 2003, an Emergency Operation was jointly approved by FAO and WFP worth about US$ 130.97 million, for food assistance to nearly 3.25 million people for a period of twelve months (April 2003 to March 2004). Furthermore, an estimated 300 000 households are in dire need of farm-input assistance, worth nearly US$ 3.7 million, to resume their farming activities in the upcoming season starting July 2003.