Russia on FAO List of Nations Risking Food Crisis
ROME -- (Reuters) Russia is among a group of countries that risk a food crisis as its political upheaval, sharp income declines and
growing unemployment conspire with higher food prices, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.
"The dramatic decline in the ruble from mid-August, and related political crises, give rise to concern over Russia's capacity to meet
its food import requirement," FAO said in a new report on food crops and shortages.
Recent turmoil in Russia had led to speculative hoarding and a rush by consumers to purchase available stocks, it said.
"There are fears that dramatic falls in real income, rising unemployment and increased food prices will prompt food crisis in the
coming months."
The Rome-based body said there might be a move from higher valued and processed commodities towards staples.
Latest estimates put total 1998 cereal production at 65.46 tonnes, 18 percent below the 1993-1997 average and well below the
86.77 tonnes harvested last year, FAO said.
Preliminary estimates suggested drought had slashed the barley harvest to two-thirds of the 1993-1997 average -- reputedly the
lowest since 1962 -- so a major fall in exports was certain. The potato harvest was also below average, it said.
In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a whole, FAO said overall cereal production in 1998 was expected to be some
30 million tonnes below the good crop of 1997. Drought and late season rains had extensively damaged the key potato crop.
Four countries of the CIS -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan -- needed exceptional and/or emergency help to deal with
food shortages.
Thirty countries, 13 of them in Africa, are suffering food shortfalls and need help fast, according to the report.
Fighting, floods, drought, hailstorms, earthquakes and seed shortages were the chief factors that had created the need for special or
emergency assistance, FAO said.
It listed the African nations as Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,
Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
The famine in southern Sudan had eased with improved food aid distribution since August, and the number of deaths by starvation
had fallen sharply, but the situation remained critical, FAO said.
Though the situation varied substantially from area to area, overall prospects for 1998 crops had improved with abundant rains from
mid-July. "The overall production is now forecast to be above the sharply reduced level of 1997," FAO said.
FAO said Indonesia, Bangladesh, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Laos and Mongolia were suffering from food deficits and needed
help.
In Indonesia, "forecasts of more heavy rains and tidal waves associated with the La Nina weather phenomenon in most parts of the
country are worrying and may aggravate the already precarious food supply situation precipitated by last year's prolonged drought
and the financial and economic crisis."
The food situation in North Korea remained precarious, FAO said, with swathes of cropped area damaged by torrential rains,
hailstorms and subsequent flooding in August.
"More than 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of cropped area have so far been damaged, denting earlier favorable prospects for 1998
crops," the report said.
In Bangladesh, floods had killed many people and extensively damaged property and infrastructure. The expected rice crop of 1.9
million tonnes had been revised down to 1.6 million.
"Actual crop losses will only be known after the floods recede, but recent estimates put the loss at around 2 million tonnes," FAO
said.
The organization listed the other countries requiring assistance to counter food shortages as Cuba, Haiti, Guyana,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia and Papua New Guinea. ( (c) 1998 Reuters) russiatoday.com |
