BENIN (8 February)
Seasonably dry conditions prevail. Land preparation for the first maize crop is underway in the South. Plantings will start with the arrival of rains, usually in March. Aggregate cereal production in 2004 has been estimated at a record 1.6 million tonnes, some 60 percent above average.
Reflecting the 2004 bumper harvest, imports of cereals in the marketing year 2005 are forecast to decline to about 148 000 tonnes. The country is being affected by Nigeria’s increasingly protectionist policy and the tightening of controls against re-export trade. Economic growth slowed down in 2004 and households’ income and access to food is negatively affected.