ETHIOPIA’S CROP PRODUCTION UP — FOOD AID STILL NEEDED

ETHIOPIA’S CROP PRODUCTION UP — FOOD AID STILL NEEDED

NEW YORK, 31 January (OCHA) -- Ethiopia’s crop production is expected to increase by 24 per cent compared to last year’s estimates.  This was a key finding of the recent crop and food supply assessment mission undertaken jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), which pegged cereal and pulse production at 14.27 million tonnes.

The mission also found that the extended rainfall, increased fertilizer use (up by 20 per cent) and a 30 per cent increase in the use of improved seeds, especially maize and wheat, have boosted average yields in key production areas.  espite the good harvest, some 2.2 million acutely food-insecure people will require emergency food assistance to meet minimum food requirements in 2005 (in addition to the 5 million chronically food-insecure people who will be covered under the Government’s Productive Safety Net Programme).  Emergency food aid requirements are estimated at about 387,500 tonnes.

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia’s Afar Region, the FAO plans an emergency intervention that will target about 1.5 million livestock due to the high risk of disease outbreaks in the region.  The programme aims to help almost 87,000 households at the cost of $729,414.  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) support to water-tankering activities in seven woredas is being extended, and the newly donated drilling rig is now fully operational, thus able to effectively contribute with long-term solutions to water needs.

Latest reports from the field indicate unusual rain was received in some parts of the Afar region and some rivers have flooded.  While the rain will improve the situation in the long term for pasture and water availability, it may also result in the death of livestock too weak to survive the drop in temperatures. 

For further information, please, call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHANY, tel.:  917 367 5126, mobile:  917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.:  41 22 917 2653, mobile:  ++41 0 79 473 4570.

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