TIMOR-LESTE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF (4 February)
The main rice and maize crops, planted in November-December, are currently emerging and will be harvested from April-May. The 2004 total cereal production is tentatively estimated at 133 000 tonnes (milled equivalent), some 22 percent above drought-affected production in the previous year. To meet cereal consumption needs, the import requirement for 2004/05 is estimated at 42 000 tonnes, which is much lower compared to the previous year’s over 60 000 tonnes, reflecting the recovery in production.
According to the UNDP 2003 Human Development Report, Timor-Leste is Asia’s poorest country, with more than 40 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Almost 80 percent of inhabitants still live in rural communities depending on subsistence agriculture and facing seasonal food shortages.