EL SALVADOR (18 September)
Normal to abundant rains, typical of the rainy season, have been reported in the past few weeks. Some damage to housing and infrastructure is reported. Harvesting of the 2003/04 first-season maize crop, the main cereal, has been completed and a good output collected. Production of sorghum is expected to be about average. Bean production is also anticipated to have reached an average level. Food assistance from the international community (WFP’s Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation 10212.0) is presently being distributed to families affected by the natural disasters of recent years, as well as by late economic shocks, such as the international coffee crisis. Families in the department of Ahuachapán, in the extreme west of the country, have recently benefited from this aid. The overall Programme should extend until February 2006, and some 100 000 people per year should benefit from it.