FEWS bulletin AFR/97-02 USA/0-FinancedFamine Early Warning System Sahel Inside: Emergency Food Needed in Parts of Foodsituat ionin Maliand Burkina Faso isgener ally satisfactory........................ .. 2 Mauritania, Chad, and Niger Bumperm ain-seasonharvest in Ethiopia... .... 3 s Sahelian countries approach t he Estimateof secondaryharvest in Somalia A t ime of year when household Mauritania isred uced.. ......................................... 3 Food security conditions are deteriorating stocks in rura l areas dwind le, the food Kenyade claresdrought di saster.......... ........ 5 for agropastoral populations acrosseight of sit uat ion in Mali and Burkina Faso Mauritania'sW ilayas. The Governmentand Short-rainsproduct ionis much below avera ge appears satisfactory. Howeve r, in Mauri · WFPl ed a mission- in which FEWSpartici­ inTanzania ..... ..................................... 5 tania, Chad, and Niger there are reasons pated- to theseW ilayasin January (fig· Second·seasonproduction 30 percent be low fo r co ncern: signs of severe stress­ ure 1).The consensusamong donors and normalin Uganda................. .................6 including movements of entire families WFPis that approximately 200,000pe rsons Heavyrainfa ll leadsto damagingfloods in into tow ns, the selling of such valuable need 16,500MT of emergency food assist­ several southernAfrican countr ies.......... ... 7 assets as fema le livestoc k, and some ance (fig ure 2). Increasing numbersof rural ho useholds' comp lete reliance on wild residentsare selling off their jewelry and foods-a re ap pearing with increased livestock;t hey are even selling female ani­ organization, have reported high malnutri· frequency. Cereal prices in many mar· mals,wh ich they normally conserveto tion rates in Assaba,B rakna, and Gorgol kets are very high and cont inue to rise. rebuild herds. Becauseof limited supply, Wilayas.One indicator of the gravity of the Governments and do nors in Chad cereal prices in key marketsac ross the coun­ situation is that local residents in some areas have askedaid workers traveling through if and Mauritania are devising strateg ies try were two to three times higher than their usual February levels in most areas( figure 3), particular wild plants are edible. to avert food crises, but th ey need to placing cereal purchasesbeyond reach of the WFPhas recommended several inter­ accelerate their efforts. In Niger, dia log poorest . Total reliance on wild foods has ventions to respondto the severe food between the Government and dono rs been the norm over the past few months. shortagesin severala reas of t he country, abou t this year's foo d security situat ion Doctors Without Borders-Spain and Dou­ including a price stabilization plan to make has been sporadic. los Community, a local nongovernmental food supplies more accessible to the poor, food-for-work activities,and a school feeding Mauritania-Vulnerable Areas program. The FoodSec urity Commission (CSA)has purchased5,800 MT of food commodities (wheat, rice,o il, and powdered milk) from Tiris Mauritania-People Affect ed and Zemmour • Affected Food Aid Required, Dakhlet Apri l-September 1997 Nouadhibou • Seve rely Affected Wilaya Populationin EstimatedFood Aid Need(Es timated) (MT2 • Most Severely Affected Hodhf ch( hargui 11,17S 1,836 Hodh ElG harbi 19,836 1,642 Assaba 17,SS8 2,282 Gorgo! S0,271 4, 163 Brakn a 34,408 2,849 Traru 6,409 Sll Guidimaka 27,0S6 2,240 HodhEl Gharbi Tagan1 12 287 I 017 Assaba Total 200,000 16,S60 Guidimaka Sour<e:Govemment·WFP·led mission report Sour<e:FEWS /Mauritania Figure2 FEWS,February 1997 Figure 1 FEWS,F•bru•ry 1997 Mauritania-Sorghum upcoming hungry period {June to Septem­ ber), however, food security will deteriorate Niger-Vulnerable Prices in Key Markets precipitously if needed food aid has not Areas 100 arrived.I n December1 996 the international community agreedthat approximately • February Average 80 • February 1997 20,000MT of cerealswo uld be needed to meet this year'semergency requirements (figure 4). Donor plans must be finalized by AG DEZ early March to permit timely procurement IAHOUA OIFFA and delivery of this food aid. Thosec losest to the situation in N'Djamena believe that IILLAB!RY 20 donors will not be able to adhere to this timetable unlessthey take steps 0 immediately. @ Vulnerable Areas c ,; ~ .,,... ..,... ..,"' ... ·a 'C ·a ~ c c ..~ c 0 0 .8 g' 1! "' " " ... Sourct: FEWS/Nig~r ::E ~ :e ~ < .8 E Niger .. :.; 0 " "" .. Figures FEWS,february1997 ~ "" S'"' "' 0 "" Therea re increasing reports of lack of food GocgQJe,..,, G11idimaka Hodh t:I llodhl<h and weak purchasing power in the most vul­ of trade for herdersand agropastoralists.SIM C.h,ubl (hl tgui nerable areasof Niger: the arrondissements Sour<e:M auritaniaFood Security Comm ission, also reports higher cereal prices in northern FEWS/Mauritania of N'Guigmi (Diffa Department), Ouallam Nigeria.Nige rian grain usually enters Nige­ Figure 3 FEWS,February1997 {Tillabery Department),Tch intabaraden and rien markets around January, but this year's Tahoua(Tahoua Department), and Tanout high cereal prices in Nigeria, high transporta­ local merchants;i t has slated 3,300 MT for and Goure (Zinder Department) and tion costs,and Nigeria's new taxes on expor­ free food distributions and the remainder for throughout AgadezDepartment (figure 5). tation have limited cereal imports. subsidized sale. Distribution of these com­ Due to poor harvests,poor pasture, and civil The Government of Niger has distributed modities is under way,but supplies will soon unrest in the north, approximately 500,000 2,500MT of free food in Ollelewa and Gan­ run out and the situation- especiallyfo r personsare highly vulnerable to food insecu­ gara Cantons(Ta nout Arrondissement), young children- will deteriorate further if rity. Abnormal migrations of entire families northern Mirriah Arrondissement( Zinder distributions are not continued.T he Govern­ in Decembera nd January in Tanout and Department), BambeyCanton (Tahoua ment is distributing a large portion of the TahouaArrondissements i ndicate that food Arrondissement), and Ouallam Arrondisse­ 3,300MT of free food in Nouakchott and security there is deteriorating more quickly ment. Additional distributions are neededin Nouadhibou and in Wilayasnot identified by than had been anticipated. these and in other vulnerable areas. The WFP,leav ing, at most, 1,900 MT of emergency Cerealsupplies in most markets in Niger national food security reserve contains only food for the eight Wilayastargeted by WFP. are low. Data from the National Cereal Price about 4,500 MT at this time. Donorsar e meeting regularly in Nouakchott Market Information System( SIM) for the first The food security situation in parts of to make or confirm pledges of emergency 3 weeksof January indicate that millet prices rural Niger is worrisome, largely because food aid. have continued to rise throughout the coun­ dialog between the Governmentand its try and are at extremely high levels for this donor partners- on the magnitude of food Chad time of year (figure 6). Animal prices are sta­ shortagesi n these areas- has been spo­ Evidence of food insecurity continues to ble in Diffa and Zinder Departments, but radic. Consequently, measuresto avert severe appear among the poorest populations of increasingmillet prices have worsened terms food hardship between May and August are Chad's Batha,Bi lti ne, and KanemPrefectures, not yet in the planning stage. where collection of wild foods, salesof ani­ Chad-People Affected and mals,and migration all exceedtypica l levels. Food Aid Require d, Mali FEWSrecently visited Salamatand Moyen­ April-September 1997 Foodsecur ity in Mali is generally satisfactory. Chari Prefecturesto evaluatethe berbere Prefecture Populationin EstimatedFood Aid Riceha rvestshave begun along the Niger Need(Estimated) (MT) (recessional sorghum) harvest now in prog­ River in Segou,Mopti , Tombouctou,and Gao Billine 128,287 5,543 ressand found that limited residual soil Regions, and prospectsare good except in a Kanem 159,604 6,896 moisture had causedsign ificant decreasesin lac 67,672 2,924 few areas where there have been problems area planted and in yields,espec ially in Am OuaddaY 37,233 1,238 wit h seedling establishment or dike mainte­ Timan Subprefecture (SalamatPrefect ure). It Gu~ra 12,637 437 nance. Recessionaland off-seasoncrops are now appearslikely that the berbere harvest 8atha 27,395 964 progressingwell, except in GoundamCerc le will total only 50,000MT, we ll below the Chari·Baoui,mi 76239 2,635 (the most important recessional farming anticipated 91,000MT. Total 509,667 20,687 area in Tombouctou Region),w here there has With the renewed availability of cereals AdditioMI been crop damagefollowing the collapseof after the berbere harvest,pr icesin Chad Nomads 153,300 5,300 the main dam at Lake Horo. should remain stable, though unseasonably Source:Chad Early Waming Systcm 1 FEWS/Chad Livestockcon dit ions are generally satis­ high, for the next few months. During the Figure4 FEWS,Febru•ry1997 factory as herds move to their dry-season 2 FEWSbulletin AFR/97-02,February 25 , 1997 to internal civil unrest in Algeria- are Normally,the rainy seasonexte nds from mid· Niger-Cereal Prices impeding trade. Nationally,millet. sorghum, June through early October,but in 1996it in Key Markets and rice pricesare continuing to fall, did not get under way until the end of July, although they have increasedi n scattered and very litt le rain fell after mid-September. 140 areasas a result of suchfactors as poor rice Farmers indicated that the millet, sorghum, 120 harvestsin some areasand poor off-season and maize production was the worst they prospectsin Goundam Cercle. had seensi nce 1986. In a normal year, fami­ 100 lies begin consuming the new harvest as ~ 80 Burkina Faso early as September;in 1996most families Adequates upplies of locally produced cere· continued to purchasece reals through the ]' 60 als (millet, sorghum, maize,and fonio) are harvest period, and granariesare reportedly 40 availablein most markets acrossBu rkina nearly empty.