HAITI ( 20 October)
At the end of September, tropical storm Jeanne hit the northern departments of Artibonite and North-West causing loss of about 3 000 human lives and extensive damages to urban infrastructure of the city of Gonaļves. A FAO early evaluation of agricultural damage indicates that the heavy rains destroyed about 5 000 hectares of banana and vegetables (mainly onions, eggplants and potatoes) and caused serious damage to the irrigation system. Despite this situation, the current rainy season has been very favourable in the main producing areas and prospects are good for second season crops (maize, sorghum and beans) to be harvested in November/December. Maize crop production for 2003/04 (October/September) is estimated at 240 000 tonnes, approximately 20 percent higher than the previous year due to increased planted area in the main season (harvested in June/July) and favourable weather conditions. In rural areas, maize prices show a considerable decline compared to the same period of the previous year due to the presence of armed gangs and security problems along the roads that are limiting the transport of maize production surplus to the main market of Port-au-Prince. Paddy production has been marginally affected by recent flooding. However paddy production in the department of Artibonite, which represents about 80 per cent of national output, is expected to continue the downward trend started at the beginning of the 1990s with reduction in area planted and yields mainly due to drainage problems and lack of maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure. Import requirements for marketing year 2004/05 (October/September) are expected at about 330 000 tonnes of rice and 230 000 tonnes of wheat. The international community continues delivering food aid to the communities that were affected by flooding in May (the district of Mapou in South-Est department) and in September (the city of Gonaļves in the Artibonite department) and to the drought-prone department of North-West.