Area:
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627 000 sq.km
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Climate:
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Semi-arid in the south; rest arid
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Population:
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6.40 million (2000 estimate); G.N.P. per caput; n.a.
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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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Inadequate port facilities; serious shortage of fuel and spare parts
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Major foodcrops:
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Maize, sorghum, sesame
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Marketing year:
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August/July; Lean season: June-August
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Share of cereals in total calorie intake:
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45 percent
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Prospects for the current "Gu" season maize and sorghum crops in southern Somalia have improved following widely distributed rains in end-April/early-May, although poor crop establishments were reported in some pockets of Gedo and Bakool Regions and in Juba Valley. Improved security conditions have also encouraged some households to return to their farms and facilitated farming activities. However, An anticipated outbreak of Quelea Quelea birds in sorghum producing areas of southern Somalia have raised serious concern. Moreover, lower water levels in Shabelle River are anticipated to adversely impact on irrigated crops along the banks.
Despite some improvement in the overall food supply situation earlier this year in parts of southern Somalia, due to better secondary "Deyr" harvest in February 2000, serious malnutrition rates are increasingly reported reflecting shocks in livelihoods due to recent drought conditions and longer-term effects of years of insecurity and lack of investment in the economy.
Elsewhere, in north-western Somalia (Somaliland) late and erratic rains have adversely affected the establishment of the Gu crop. The food situation is worsening in some agro-pastoral areas in Togdheer, Awdal and Sanag where successive below-normal rains have severely affected crop and livestock production. With community support waning, migration of people and livestock to Ethiopia and other regions are reported. A UN Inter-Agency appeal was launched on 6 June 2000, for US$378 million to assist some 13.4 million drought affected people in countries of the Horn of Africa, including 750 000 people in Somalia.
| Wheat | Rice | Coarse grains | Total | |
| Previous five years average production | - | 2 | 292 | 294 |
| Previous five years average imports | 106 | 84 | 70 | 260 |
| 1999/00 Domestic Availability | - | 6 | 242 | 248 |
| 1999 Production (rice in paddy terms) | - | 2 | 242 | 244 |
| 1999 Production (rice in milled terms) | - | 1 | 242 | 243 |
| Possible stock drawdown | - | 5 | - | 5 |
| 1999/00 Utilization | 160 | 96 | 302 | 558 |
| Food Use | 90 | 61 | 262 | 413 |
| of which: local purchase requirement | - | - | - | - |
| Non-food use | 40 | 35 | 40 | 115 |
| Exports or Re-exports | - | - | - | - |
| Possible stock build up | 30 | - | - | 30 |
| 1999/00 Import Requirement | 160 | 90 | 60 | 310 |
| Anticipated commercial imports | 125 | 75 | 40 | 240 |
| Food aid needs | 35 | 15 | 20 | 70 |
| Current Aid Position | ||||
| Food aid pledges | 6 | 1 | 48 | 55 |
| of which: Delivered | 3 | 1 | 37 | 41 |
| Donor-financed purchases | - | - | - | - |
| of which: for local use | - | - | - | - |
| for export | - | - | - | - |
| Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/Year) | 15 | 10 | 43 | 69 |
| Indexes | ||||
| 1999 production as % of average: | 83 | |||
| 1999/00 import requirement as % of average: | 119 |
