GAMBIA, REPUBLIC OF (8 February)
The joint FAO/CILSS Mission in October 2004 provisionally estimated cereal production in 2004 at a record of about 239 000 tonnes, an increase of about 12 percent over the previous year’s good crop and significantly above the average for the previous five years. Although grasshopper, blister beetles and striga infestations have been reported in several areas, overall damage to crops has been limited. In spite of the recent desert locust invasion, the food position this year is expected to be satisfactory, reflecting the bumper harvest, including a good groundnut output. With the arrival of new harvests on the markets the price of coarse grains has declined. Prices of maize, millet and sorghum have decreased by 22 percent, 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively, compared with the same period in the previous year.