GEORGIA (22 October)
Cereal harvest in Georgia is nearly complete and aggregate harvest is estimated at about 711 000 tonnes from 425 000 hectares of planted area. This year’s harvest is about 57 000 tonnes up on the average harvest of the past five years and includes some 250 000 tonnes of wheat, 400 000 tonnes of maize and some 50 000 tonnes of barley. Ample precipitation and good soil moisture, in addition to improved access to purchased inputs, have contributed to the above average harvest. Georgia requires some 1.2 million tonnes per year to meet domestic requirements. Cereal import requirement is, therefore, estimated at about 479 000 tonnes including some 125 000 tonnes in food aid.
WFP, under a three-year Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO), has distributed a total of 13 950 tonnes of food to some 300 000 beneficiaries since the start of the PRRO in July 2003. This includes emergency free distribution of wheat flour to the most destitute groups of population severely affected by the unusual rise in prices of wheat flour and bread in May-June 2004. About 72 500 beneficiaries received a total of 1 860 tonnes of wheat flour for a sixty-day supplementary ration. The current PRRO, which is scheduled to come to an end by June 2006, comprises of relief and recovery components, mainly food distribution to vulnerable groups and Food for Work programme.