Area:
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124 320 sq.km
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Climate:
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Highland areas: tropical wet/dry with unreliable rains. Lowlands: semi-arid to arid
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Population:
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3.0 million (1999 estimate); G.N.P. per caput: US$200 (1998)
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Specific characteristics of the country:
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Low-income food-deficit country
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Logistics:
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Roads inadequate, gateway to northern Ethiopia
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Major foodcrops:
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Sorghum, teff, millet, maize, pulses
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Marketing year:
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January/December; Lean season: August-November
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Share of cereals in total calorie intake:
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73 percent
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The food supply situation in Eritrea give cause for serious concern. Large-scale population displacements due to the upsurge in the border conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia in May/June 2000 have aggravated an already precarious food supply situation following the 1999 reduced harvest due to drought and war displacement. More than 1.5 million people are now estimated to have been displaced with about 95 000 reported to have fled across the border into Sudan. Despite reports of some displaced people returning to their villages, an almost complete lack of food and other relief supplies in most parts of western Eritrea and fear of mines make many reluctant to return. Meanwhile, with the setting in of the rainy season, roads are turning into mud, further complicating the return of the displaced and the logistics of the relief operation. The failure of the last two successive rainy seasons in Anseba, North Red Sea and South Red Sea administrative zones has also severely affected nearly 300 000 people.
In response, FAO and WFP have jointly approved an Emergency Operation on 22 June, for relief assistance to 750 000 internally displaced persons in Eritrea, worth US$ 79 million for a period of 12 months. Subsequently, a UN Inter-Agency Appeal has been launched on 19 July 2000, for US$87.3 million to assist some 1.1 million displaced people. The international community at large and donor agencies in particular are urged to respond generously to the appeals for assistance in order to avoid a food supply crisis of potentially catastrophic proportions.
Prospects for the current 2000 main season crops are bleak following the displacement of large number of farmers from the major agricultural production areas of south-western Eritrea and the disruption of the planting season in May/June. Gash Barka and Debub administrative zones, which are the country's main grain producing areas and normally supply more than 75 percent of Eritrea's cereal production, have been at the centre of current clashes and may not have any harvest in 2000. As the next harvest is only expected in November/December 2001, these regions known as "the bread basket of Eritrea" together with other parts will depend on emergency relief food for at least the next 18 months.
| Wheat | Rice | Coarse grains | Total | |
| Previous five years average production | 12 | - | 193 | 205 |
| Previous five years average imports | 136 | 1 | 79 | 216 |
| 2000 Domestic Availability | 19 | - | 310 | 329 |
| 1999 Production (rice in paddy terms) | 19 | - | 300 | 319 |
| 1999 Production (rice in milled terms) | 19 | - | 300 | 319 |
| Possible stock drawdown | - | - | 10 | 10 |
| 2000 Utilization | 169 | - | 350 | 519 |
| Food Use | 168 | - | 225 | 393 |
| of which: local purchase requirement | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Non-food use | 1 | - | 125 | 126 |
| Exports or Re-exports | - | - | - | - |
| Possible stock build up | - | - | - | - |
| 2000 Import Requirement | 150 | - | 40 | 190 |
| Anticipated commercial imports | 50 | - | 20 | 70 |
| Food aid needs | 100 | - | 20 | 120 |
| Current Aid Position | ||||
| Food aid pledges | 52 | - | 1 | 53 |
| of which: Delivered | 24 | - | 1 | 24 |
| Donor-financed purchases | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| of which: for local use | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| for export | - | - | - | - |
| Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/Year) | 54 | - | 73 | 127 |
| Indexes | ||||
| 1999 production as % of average: | 156 | |||
| 2000 import requirement as % of average: | 88 |
