ANGOLA Food Security Update June 2007
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ANGOLA Food Security Update June 2007 Households in most of Angola are generally food secure due the Figure 1. Current food security situation augmented supply of food reserves from the harvest in progress and the steady import of food products. Current household food reserves should last until September ‐ November 2007, when most households will have another harvesting opportunity from nacas, in addition to cassava and cooking banana harvests. The nacas harvest will allow households to replenish their food reserves and supply the market until February 2008. However, concern about food insecurity still remains in localized areas of Angola (figure 1): (i) in the southern region, where an extended dry spell has reduced the prospect for a good cereal harvest; (ii) in the northern region, specifically in southern Uige, where a virus attack has caused a decrease in cassava production; and (iii) in localized districts of humid zones in the central and northern provinces, including Uige, Huambo, Benguela and Moxico, where the season has been Source: FEWS NET Angola. characterized by intense rains and floods. The food security situation for these areas in the months ahead will be determined by households’ involvement in nacas production, access to income earning opportunities and the availability of food in local markets. These factors will be negatively affected by poor road infrastructures and constraints to cross border trade that limit the flow of food products. Lack of diversity in terms income generating activities will limit the potential for the vulnerable population to improve their food security. Interventions to rehabilitate more roads and help the affected population to perform activities that will enable them to produce food or generate income during winter are highly recommended. Significant events timeline Current food security and nutrition concerns Concern about food insecurity remains in localized areas: (i) in southern Angola, where an extended dry spell has reduced the prospect for a good harvest; (ii) in northern Angola, specifically in southern Uige, where virus attack has caused a decrease on cassava production; and (iii) in localized districts of humid zones in central and northern provinces, such as in Uige, Huambo, Benguela and Moxico, where the season has been characterized by intense rains and floods. FEWS NET Angola FEWS NET Washington c/o Ministério de Agricultura e 1717 H St NW Desenvolvimento Rural Washington DC 20006 FEWS NET is a USAID‐funded activity. The authors’ views expressed in Largo António Jacinto, 2º Andar [email protected] this publication do not necessarily reflect the view of the United States Luanda, Angola Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Tel: 244 92 469 4034 [email protected] www.fews.net/angola ANGOLA Food Security Update June 2007 In the southern part of Angola erratic rains combined with lengthy dry spells days have resulted in below average harvest estimates. Key informers suggest that the crop farming population, specifically women‐headed households, as well as indigenous populations such as Vatua and Khoisan population in Curoca, Cahama, Namacunde, Ombandja and Cuanhama are already switching to collecting wild foods, due to the lack of income and/or preferred food supplies. The actual food and income reserves of the vulnerable population, including what is derived from this year’s harvest, will be exhausted before the next harvest in June 2008, by November 2007 for the majority of districts of Cunene and by August 2007 in Curoca (Cunene). Close monitoring and preparation for possible aid may be required to help approximately 30 000 vulnerable households in Cunene. In southern Uige, the 19 per cent drop in cassava production due to cassava virus did not cause a major reduction in cassava supply, but the negative effects on food security could become noticeable in the months ahead. It is also important to recognize that the eradication of diseased plants involves uprooting and destroying the current contaminated crops and replanting resistant planting material. This process could entail cassava shortages and subsequent food insecurity in southern Uige. Therefore, complementary support and interventions are required to improve food availability and income at the household level. Although the current harvest has improved the food security Figure 2. Number of malnutrition admissions of situation in southwestern Huambo, eastern Benguela, eastern children below five years of age in some nutrition Moxico and southern Uige, areas that were drastically affected by centers, October 2006-March 2007 intense rains and floods, households could still experience food insecurity if they are not able to plant winter crops due to lack of available nacas land and inputs. Support from the government and NGOs for winter production in nacas and irrigated land should be viewed as a strategy for improving the food security situation. Most correspondents have reported that there are no indications of serious malnutrition, thanks to the generally stable food security situation and improved availability of clean water following the rains. Data from UNICEF covering October 2006 and March 2007 also provides evidence of a decrease in the number of admissions Source: UNICEF, 2007 recorded in some nutrition centers across Angola (figure 2). Market and prices Apart from improved food reserves, the food security situation has improved due to betterment of income situation resulting from the sale of crop productions and livestock. There are also reports of continued wood exploitation in Uige, extraction of firewood in Cunene and trade across Angola, by which households are generating income that can be used to purchase food in local markets. The poor condition of roads and the lack of vehicles for transport are constraining this season’s marketing activities. Households in isolated districts such as in Bolongongo in Kuanza Norte as well as Milunga, Buengas and Quimbele in Uige will less likely have the opportunity to generate income from the sale of their surplus. The supply of food products in production‐deficit and isolated districts such as Curoca in Cunene will also be constrained by poor road and lack of transporters. Where the road infrastructure is poor, prices of locally produced surplus food are usually very low while those for imported foods are very expensive. Prices in major provincial cities of Angola have remained stable (table 1), instead of decreasing as they normally would during the harvest period. It is likely that the flow of harvests into local markets is still very low because of poor road infrastructure. The reported drop in sorghum and millet production in Cunene and the drop in cassava production in Uige did not affect local prices for these products. The stable price of sorghum/millet in Cunene suggests that the province has been receiving supplies of cereal from Huila province and from Namibia. The 19 per cent drop in cassava production due to the virus attack did not affect supply because northern region produce surplus cassava, which is usually kept in the soil. Famine Early Warning Systems Network 2 ANGOLA Food Security Update June 2007 Therefore, productive districts and communities not affected by the virus problem are supplying the deficit areas. The food security situation in affected districts will be determined by household incomes and food availability in local markets. While this year’s production is higher than Table 1. Prices per kg of cereals and cassava at provincial cities in May that of last year, Angola is still structurally 2007 (US$; 75AKZ/US$) deficit in cereal and relies on cereal imports. The relatively poor maize harvest in South Kwanza Africa, combined with high global maize Norte Uige Cunene Benguela prices, will impact the supplies and prices of Maize grain 0.67 0.53 0.53 0.67 maize in deficit countries of southern Africa, Sorghum/Millet grain 0.40 0.33 including Angola. A further price increase for Dry cassava 0.53 0.48 imported maize is likely to affect poor households in coastal cities of Luanda and Benguela, as well as in deficit districts such as those in Cunene. While there is no cross border monitoring activities in Angola, there is a need to acknowledge its importance for food security, especially in the isolated districts of Makela do Zombo and Quimbele in Uige, Cuimba in Zaire as well as Curoca in Cunene that are still being supplied with food products from neighboring countries. In Curoca, for example, people take their livestock to sell in Namibia, where they buy food products. Bureaucracy and increased taxes at the borders with DRC and Namibia are some of the constraints facing traders and households depending on cross‐border trade. Seasonal forecast and performance Some rains were still observed in the north during late May, while no rain Figure 3. Maize crop conditions as of the 3rd has been recorded for southern Angola, specifically in Cunene province. dekad of May, 2007 Late, heavy rains during late May had negative impact on seedlings being prepared for winter cropping in Kwanza Norte and on road conditions in Uige. Figure 3 depicts the performance of the maize crop (using the Water Requirements Satisfaction Index, or WRSI) as of the end of the rainy season and shows clearly that the province of Cunene did not receive enough water for crop cultivation. While the WRSI suggests good water supply for cropping in central, northern and eastern Angola, some households in this area, such as in Uige, Huambo, Benguela and Moxico, have had lower production because the effects of intense rains and flooding which not only damaged houses and infrastructure and cost lives, but led to water‐logging, leaching of nutrients, physical damage to Source: USGS. Crop conditions measured using the crops and erosion. Water Requirement Satisfaction Index. However, excessive rains have contributed to the increase in the area of land that contains enough soil moisture to sustain agricultural production during winter.