GUINEA-BISSAU (8 February)
An FAO/CILSS Crop Assessment Mission has estimated the 2004 aggregate cereal production at some 208 000 tonnes, 71 percent above last year’s level. Rice, the main crop, is expected to increase by 91 percent to about 127 000 tonnes. Commercial imports in 2004/05 (November/October) are forecast at 30 000 tonnes of rice and 15 000 tonnes of wheat. With food markets well supplied, prices of cereals are lower than those prevailing in the same period last year.
Guinea-Bissau faced a particularly difficult lean season in 2004 due to a steep rise in rice price in the country, due mainly to a decline in commercial imports caused by an increase in the world price. The low producer price of cashew, the main export of the country, has further limited access to food notably for farmers living in the structurally food deficit regions of Pirada and Pitche in the East, and Biombo and Cacheu in the North. Per caput cereal consumption is forecast to recover significantly in 2004/05 from its previous low level. However, the recent desert locust invasion may affect the production of cashew the main source of income for farmers.