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afrol News, 13 December - Despite an improvement in the overall food situation in sub-Saharan Africa, millions of people continue to face hunger and starvation, according to new findings by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Somalia and the Great Lakes region are most severely endangered. The FAO report, exclusively basing itself on the statistics of national food production, is pessimistic reading when it comes to food security in sub-Sahara Africa in 2002. It should however be noted that annual food deficits most commonly are compensated by food imports and aid, and that the "millions facing hunger" thus usually are reduced to areas of civil strife and severe drought. According to the latest issue of FAO's Africa Report, the situation in Somalia is particularly perilous, with some 800,000 people experiencing food shortages and 300,000 facing starvation after the worst harvest season in seven years. Somalia further is relatively closed to outside aid and trade due to its lack of a central government. In addition to severe drought, an overflow of rivers in southern Somalia has caused massive displacements, FAO reports. The problem is complicated by lost income of US$ 120 million owing to a ban on livestock imports from eastern Africa due to Rift Valley fever, and the loss of millions in remittances from Somalis abroad since the recent closure of the Al-Barakaat money transfer company. In Congo Kinshasa (DRC), the continuing conflict has left some 2.5 million internally displaced persons largely inaccessible to humanitarian aid because of security concerns. Many of these displaced are only reached with great difficulties due to the ongoing civil war in the country and could thus face hunger. In the Congolese province of Katanga, "11 children die daily from malnutrition, reflecting the serious situation throughout the country," FAO reports. The long-running complex emergencies in the DRC and Angola, where some 1.34 million internally displaced people need food aid, require greater attention, according to the report. - By contrast, the food supply situation has improved considerably in Burundi and Rwanda, as well as in Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Niger, Chad, Mali and Senegal, the report states, FAO states. These countries rely on food imports and donations when production is low due to climatic variables, while exporting agricultural products when the season has been favourable. In general, eastern Africa also had showed improvement owing to favourable weather and good harvests in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, FAO reports. - Nevertheless, pastoral populations in Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea continue to depend on food aid because of prolonged drought, as do more than 50,000 displaced persons in Eritrea, FAO states, implying that more international aid is needed. In Cape Verde, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau, the food situation however had worsened since last year, FAO reports. This however only refers to the local production, which will be supplemented by imports and donations. In the Western African coastal countries, food supplies remained tight in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the impact of recent civil conflicts, according to the report. Currently, the situation for imports is only precarious in Liberia, marred by an expanding civil war and international sanctions. Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, dry weather or excessive rains have left 705,000 people in rural areas at risk of food shortages, while 250,000 people in urban areas grapple with a sharp increase in food prices, and some 30,000 farm workers have lost their jobs due to the political unrest. In Malawi and Zambia, large orders of maize imports have been announced. Despite a good harvest, food aid will be needed for 100,000 people affected by dry weather in Mozambique, while poor cereal production is expected to cause difficulties for many households in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, FAO reports. Aid reportedly is on its way, and governments are engaged in importing the food deficit. Sources: Based on FAO and afrol archives
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