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17 December 2002 ROME,
Italy -- Some 40 million people in sub-Saharan
Africa are threatened by severe food shortages and a
major humanitarian crisis is deepening in southern Africa, the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.
This bleak warning came in a report
released by the UN food agency in Rome. It said the food
situation is most serious in southern Africa, where 16.7
million people need emergency food assistance to survive until
the next harvest in April 2003.
Food Supply
Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa warns:
"There is urgent need to expedite commercial imports
and food aid distributions to avert a major humanitarian
catastrophe in southern Africa." The report is based in
part on latest information available to FAO and World Food
Programme on the countries concerned. Because of the high rates
of HIV/AIDS throughout the sub-region, widespread hunger
threatens many people with life-threatening complications.
FAO and WFP have estimated the total food
shortfall for southern Africa at 1.6 million tonnes, after
expected commercial imports. WFP has appealed for 993 000 tonnes
of food aid. So far, 663 000 tonnes, or 67 percent, have been
pledged.
According to the report,
distributions have been seriously delayed in Zambia and
Zimbabwe. Commercial maize imports have also been slow and
prices have started to rise in several countries.
In Angola, despite being able to reach hungry people
in areas that were earlier cut off because of the war, food
insecurity and malnutrition rates remain high. Internally
displaced persons returning home lack access to basic health
services, says the report.
FAO has appealed
for $25 million to help the neediest farmers in Southern Africa
with much-needed agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizer
and hand tools, for the next cropping season.
The report also warns that serious food shortages are
looming in several countries in the Horn of Africa, where at
least 17.5 million people are without sufficient food. The
situation is most serious in Eritrea and Ethiopia where food aid
is urgently needed to prevent famine. In Eritrea, a third of the
population is facing severe food shortages because of drought.
In addition, humanitarian assistance is still needed for people
who were displaced by the war with Ethiopia and for refugees
returning from Sudan.
In Ethiopia, poor and
erratic rains have caused severe food problems for millions of
people. Large numbers of livestock have died and unusual
population migrations are reported, especially in the eastern
and pastoral areas. A joint FAO/WFP assessment mission has just
returned from the country and its report is to be released
shortly.
Many people in Sudan, Kenya,
Somalia and Uganda also need food assistance because of
production shortfalls caused by poor rains and in some cases
civil conflict.
In the Great Lakes region,
the food outlook for Rwanda and Burundi is poor because the
first season harvests of 2003 are forecast to decline due to
delayed rainfall. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the
escalation of fighting in the east has caused people to flee
their farms. Acute malnutrition continues to increase among
internally displaced persons as the fighting hinders
humanitarian assistance.
Western Africa is
also suffering from food problems, especially in Mauritania,
where three consecutive poor harvests have led to an extremely
serious food situation. The report estimates that this
year's cereal harvest in the Sahel is below last
year's, because of insufficient rainfall.
In Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, agricultural
activities have been disrupted by civil strife leading to
reduced harvest prospects. Côte d'Ivoire will need
emergency food assistance, while both Sierra Leone and Guinea
are already heavily dependent on international food assistance
because of large numbers of internally displaced people and
refugees.
Overall, 25 countries in
sub-Saharan Africa are facing food emergencies caused by
problems that range from drought and adverse weather to civil
strive, economic difficulties, an increase in internally
displaced people and an influx of refugees. This is almost half
the countries in the region: Angola, Burundi, Cape Verde,
Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic
of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya,
Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Contact:
John Riddle
Information Officer, FAO
john.riddle@fao.org
(+39) 06 570 53259
Erwin Northoff
Information Officer, FAO
erwin.northoff@fao.org
(+39) 06 570
53105
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