MOZAMBIQUE (13 February)
Northern areas have experienced favourable rainfall benefiting the country’s main maize, sorghum and cassava cropping zones. Although central areas have received some rains, vegetative growth remains below normal. The southern areas have received cumulative rainfall of less than 50 percent of normal level thus leading to drought-like conditions affecting crop growth and livestock condition adversely.Consequently the national crop prospects at this stage are highly uncertain.
The 2003 cereal production, estimated at 1.8 million tonnes (some 3 percent above the good harvest of the previous year), shows a continuation of steady recovery in agricultural production over past several years. However, the country as a whole faces a deficit of about 744 000 tonnes of cereals particularly in the south and parts of the centre. A recent estimate by the Vulnerability Assessment Committee shows that 659 000 people are in need of food assistance. So far, WFP was able to bring food relief to only a part of the needy population.