SudaneseOnline: سودانيزاونلاين

February 8, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s 2011/12 crop harvest will be significantly below average and will likely result in increasing food insecurity across the country, a joint crop and food security assessment report released by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation says.
The Quasi Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (Quasi-CFSAM) report, conducted in collaboration with the federal and state Ministries of Agriculture, is based on a national field mission carried out in November and December 2011.
The report says poor rainfall at the start of the cropping season reduced the total area cultivated and caused lower yields in the rainfed sector.
Poor pastures and uncertainty about access to South Sudan’s pastures triggered some earlier-than-usual cattle migrations, before crops were ready to be harvested, causing crop destruction.
Ongoing insecurity has compounded the problem by disrupting normal agricultural activities.
Insecurity in South Kordofan and Blue Nile meant the mission team could only access a small part of each state. Therefore, the magnitude of the food insecurity problem is unclear.
However, FAO is deeply concerned by reports from those who have fled the fighting about increasing food insecurity in some areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. An urgent needs assessment and assistance to those facing food shortages is required. 
Sudan’s total cereal harvest is estimated to be 2.77 million tonnes, comprising 2.08 million tonnes of sorghum, 0.36 million tonnes of millet and small amounts of wheat, maize and rice.
The millet harvest is expected to be particularly poor in northern parts of North Darfur and North Kordofan states.
Increased imports of cereals will be needed at a time when Sudan’s economy has poor foreign exchange earnings and a fiscal deficit.
Sorghum requirements will have to be met by 0.98 million tonnes of imports, if reserve stocks are allowed to be drawn down to 200,000 tonnes.
Wheat and rice requirements will have to be met by normal levels of commercial imports estimated at 1.55 million tonnes and 49,000 tonnes, respectively.
Reflecting the increasing scarcity, cereal prices are rising rapidly and much earlier than normal across the country. National household food stocks are expected to run down much earlier than normal leading to a possible further increase in food prices.
The report says the cheapest variety of sorghum, feterita, reached $US 300 per tonne in November 2011 in most wholesale markets, up from around $US 220 in August 2011. Millet hit $US 550-600 per tonne in November, up from $US 400-450 per tonne in August. Both commodity prices are expected to continue rising through the long dry season till the next harvest starts in November- December 2012.
The field mission also assessed livestock conditions, and found that in November/December 2011 body condition was good in all areas. However, the field teams reported a serious lack of fodder and escalating fodder prices. This has continued into 2012 and the lack of pasture and worsening fodder scarcity may cause livestock conditions to rapidly deteriorate.
FAO is urging donor nations, humanitarian agencies and the Government of Sudan to work together to prevent a possible food crisis in the country. 
FAO is appealing for $US 41.6 million to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable people in Sudan to strengthen their food production capacity.  


Every year, FAO, governments and the World Food Program conduct Crop and Food Security Assessment Missions in food-insecure countries around the world to measure national food production and the extent to which poor people can meet their basic food needs.
The Quasi-CFSAM report has been reviewed and approved by the Government of Sudan. Preliminary results from the CFSAM mission were published in a FEWSNET alert in December 2011.
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FAO’s SIFSIA programme produced the Quasi-CFSAM report, with the FSTS.
SIFSIA (Sudan Institutional Capacity Programme: Food Security Information for Action) is funded by the European Commission.

The full report “Quasi Crop and Food Supply Assessment Report-January 2012” can be found at: www.fao.org/sudanfoodsecurity 

For more information, contact:

English:
Zoie Jones
Communications Officer
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Mobile: 09123 96719
Email: Zoie.Jones@FAO.org

Arabic:
Sadig Ibrahim Elamin
Information Management & Capacity Building Consultant
Sudan Institutional Capacity Programme: Food Security Information for Action (SIFSIA)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Mobile: 09123 13298
Email: Sadig.Elamin@FAO.org