SOMALIA* (11 February)
Prospects for the current 2003/04 secondary deyr season cereal crops are favourable following near normal rainfall in southern Somalia. Good fodder production is also forecast in southern agro-pastoral areas. The Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) puts its preliminary estimates of planted cereal area in the current deyr season at about 286 000 hectares, with a concomitant cereal production forecast of about 147 000 tonnes, about 48 percent above the post war average.
However, serious humanitarian concerns have emerged in several areas of northern and central regions of Somalia as the result of the cumulative effects of successive droughts. Widespread loss of livestock and other livelihoods, along with severe water scarcity, have been reported, with a large number of people in need of urgent food and other humanitarian assistance. Grazing and water options are increasingly limited due to below-normal vegetation and outbreaks of civil insecurity in Central Somalia. FSAU has recently reported that drought in northern parts of the country has now extended to include the greater parts of Sool, as well as Bari, Nugal and Mudug. A number of interventions in place are aimed at maintaining the nutritional status of the children. Monitoring of all areas has intensified.
The security situation has also worsened in several parts of the country including Mogadishu, Hiran and the Sool-Sanag area. In response to the severe drought in the Sool plateau, WFP recently distributed 732 tonnes of food to about 13 000 most vulnerable households. A tense security situation, however, has affected further food distribution. Overall, some 350 000 IDPs and poor urban dwellers, together with about 230 000 rural people, are estimated to be chronically food insecure.