ANGOLA: Maize crop worse than last year

Photo: IRIN

Maize ruined by the heavy rains

JOHANNESBURG, 21 May 2004 (IRIN) - Angola's maize harvest is expected to be far below that of 2002/03. In its latest monthly food security update the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) warned that "prospects for the 2003/04 maize harvest have deteriorated following excessive rain during the January to March season". FEWS NET noted that "average yields in the central and northern parts of [the central province of] Huambo are expected to be at least 35 percent below normal, while a situation of near crop failure is expected in the southern and southeastern parts of the province". The expected harvest would likely be "far below the 164,000 mt of last year". FEWS NET added that substantial reductions in maize yields could also be expected in the northern parts of the Huila province in the southwest of the country. The update said "farmers in northern Angola are expecting normal to above normal yields of cassava", but cautioned that "due to poor road conditions, marketing of surplus production is a major problem in the region". "The food supply situation is likely to be difficult for households in cereal deficit areas. Although markets might play an important role in filling the gap, the poor state of the roads limits the ability of traders to move food effectively to demand centres. FEWS NET conducted a short market information survey in Huambo, Huila and Luanda, and found that traders are not only slow in supplying food to demand centres, but they are unable to take real advantage of existing spatial price differentials," the report concluded. For more details: www.fews.net