WFP EMERGENCY REPORT Issued weekly by the United Nations World Food Programme Report No. 16 of 2000 Date: 21 April 2000
This report includes: A) Horn of Africa drought: Ethiopia B) Afghanistan C) East Timor D) North Caucasus. From Francesco Strippoli, Senior Humanitarian Advisor. Available on the Internet on the WFP Home Page at http://www.wfp.org/ or by e-mail from Natasha.Nadazdin@wfp.org . For information on resources, donors are requested to contact Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org or Marius.deGaayFortman@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 06 6513 2004 or 06 6513 2250. Media queries should be directed to Trevor.Rowe@wfp.org telephone 39 06 6513 2602. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, 00148 Rome, Italy. PART I - HIGHLIGHTS (Details below in Part II) A. HORN OF AFRICA - DROUGHT 1. Update - information as of 21 April a) Regional: Catherine Bertini, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on the drought in the Greater Horn of Africa, completed tour of the region; Executive Director of WFP visited many drought-affected areas in Ethiopia and Eritrea and appealed to international community to respond generously to prevent greater crisis; UN Special Envoy expected to present mission report to Secretary General shortly. 2. Ethiopia: a) Since January 2000 WFP borrowed 50,240 metric tons for victims of crop failure alone, of which 26,197 distributed; the remainder being distributed by DPPC. b) As of mid-April, a total of 451,300 tons pledged by WFP, DPPC and NGOs against the global appeal of 758,000 tons of cereals in the year 2000 - some 60 percent. c) In Somali Region, a part of WFP allocation for April already received in Gode for distribution. d) WFP approves new budget revision for 2,900 tons of vegetable oil and 600 tons of biscuits under EMOP 6218; original total requirement of this EMOP is 250,000 tons. e) WFP assistance used to support rehabilitation of roads to facilitate food aid deliveries. f) Global food distributions: from June to December 1999 amounted to 235,058 metric or 73 percent of requirements, from January to March 2000 a total of 65,431 metric tons or 34 percent of requirements; distributions of food in Somali Region from January to March 2000 over 20,000 tons or 34 percent of requirements. B. AFGHANISTAN 1. Update - information as of 19 April a) National wheat production: due to dry weather, yield for rain-fed wheat crops in south-west in 2000 expected to be lower than the figures reported for 1999; irrigated wheat production in south-west in 1999 increased by eight percent to 494,000 metric tons; moderately dry conditions in western Afghanistan likely to have a negative impact on rain-fed wheat production; indications for a successful harvest in north and north-east in 2000. b) Cross-border trade: Country's cereal import requirement estimated at 1.1 million tons by FAO/WFP crop and food supply assessment report; stricter border controls with Pakistan after military coup resulted in acute decrease in the cereal flow from Pakistan to Afghanistan, affecting cereal-deficit areas. c) Currently WFP implementing the second phase of its emergency intervention for 200,000 people using 7,164 tons of food aid. C. EAST TIMOR 1. Update - information as of 19 April a) An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited East Timor between 30 March and 7 April; satisfactory output of maize and rice expected in spite of late planting; overall rainfall has been favourable. b) Most vulnerable households rely on cash income from non-export cash crops; equally vulnerable those households practising mixed strategies of growing non-export cash crops and export commodity crops; moderately to highly vulnerable are late-returning subsistence farmers reliant on maize and no access to irrigation. c) Estimated requirements until end 2000: 1,700 tons/month expected from May up to July 2000; from August through December increase expected to about 2,200 tons/month, due to needs generated by the annual lean season. d) Full mission report available on http://www.fao.org go to Economics, go to Giews, then Special Reports. e) WFP activities: ongoing EMOP 6177 provides food aid for populations affected by civil strife; total food requirement 8,333 tons; worth USD 5.6 million; by end March 2,100 tons delivered by WFP-chartered helicopters for distribution in inaccessible areas; WFP giving support to NGOs and sister UN organizations; by road WFP convoys moved 12,000 tons of food for distribution throughout East Timor between September 1999 and 31 March. D. NORTH CAUCASUS 1. Update - most information as of 18 April a) WFP emergency operation(EMOP 6197) currently reaching 147,650 Chechen IDPs in Ingushetia, of which 75 percent are women and children. b) Returns of IDPs to Chechnya reported at rate of 250-300 per day; WFP considering provision of food package to returnees. c) UNHCR and DRC registration exercises indicate as at 5 April a total of 213,820 Chechen IDPs in Ingushetia; some 75 percent live with host families. d) Some 68 percent of the food requirement for WFP operation resourced; contributions from the US, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark and the Czech Republic. e) A total of 5,155 tons of WFP food commodities delivered in the region, of which 3,622 tons distributed. f) On 24 April UN rapid humanitarian needs assessment by international staff in Chechnya; mission included representatives from UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, OCHA and UNSECOORD. PART II - DETAILS A. HORN OF AFRICA - DROUGHT 1. UPDATE - information as of 21 April 1.1 Regional: Catherine Bertini, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on the drought in the Greater Horn of Africa, completed a ten-day tour of the region. Bertini, the Executive Director of WFP, visited many drought-affected areas in Ethiopia and Eritrea, observed the UN efforts to assist the drought victims and met the highest Government officials in the region. The UN delegation also visited Kenya. Bertini called on the international community to act in a generous way in order to help to prevent problems on a larger scale. The UN Special Envoy is expected to present her mission report to the Secretary General next week in Paris. 2. Ethiopia: 2.1 On the basis of donor pledges confirmed to date, WFP has been borrowing food commodities for food aid distributions to drought victims from the Emergency Food Security Reserve (EFSR). During the first part of this year WFP borrowed 50,240 metric tons for victims of crop failure alone, of which 26,197 tons has been distributed. WFP's implementing partner, Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), is in the process of distributing the remainder of the borrowed quantity. Borrowings have also been made from existing WFP development stocks. 2.2 In addition to the 250,000 tons of cereals and blended food required under EMOP 6218, a budget revision was approved to add 2,900 tons of vegetable oil and 600 tons of biscuits. 2.3 An allocation plan for WFP food aid deliveries has been prepared for April. In the Somali Region, WFP has already delivered a part of the monthly allocation in Gode, for distribution in the Gode zone, and is sending food for April distributions to other areas as well. 2.4 WFP transports commodities to the main transport hubs (seven throughout the country) from which point it is the responsibility of DPPC to deliver food to beneficiaries at the final distribution sites. Relief operations encounter logistics constraints including very poor roads or lack of short haul trucks. WFP is trying to help overcome some of these constraints by supporting local road rehabilitation projects. For instance, USD 20,000 donor financing has been received for upgrading of a road in Bale zone. 2.5 As of mid-April, a total of 451,300 tons had been pledged by WFP, DPPC and NGOs against the global appeal of 758,000 tons of cereals in the year 2000. This figure indicates that approximately 59.5 percent of requirements have been pledged for the year 2000, leaving a shortfall of 306,732 tons or 40.5 percent of the total cereal requirements. 2.6 Global food distributions from June to December 1999 amounted to 235,058 metric tons and met 73 percent of requirements whilst global distributions in the country from January to March 2000 were 65,431 metric tons which met about 34 percent of requirements. Distributions of food in Somali Region from January to March 2000 were over 20,000 tons which met about 34 percent of requirements. WFP, through its emergency operation (EMOP 6218, providing relief food assistance to 2.3 million victims of natural disaster, is seeking to resource approximately 30 percent of the total tonnage appealed for by the Government in January 2000. B. AFGHANISTAN 1. UPDATE - information as of 19 April 1.1 National wheat production: a) As a result of the current dry weather, it is expected that the yield for rain-fed wheat crops in south-western Afghanistan in 2000 will be lower than the figures reported for 1999. The production of rain-fed wheat from the south-west in 1999 was reported at 33,000 metric tons by the FAO/WFP crop assessment report, as compared to 81,000 metric tons in 1998, a 60 percent decrease. b) Irrigated wheat production in south-western Afghanistan in 1999 increased by eight percent to 494,000 metric tons making that region the most productive in the country. Further improvement was hampered by damaged irrigation infrastructure following flooding in 1998 and a general lack of maintenance. It is probable that the irrigated crops will be seriously affected in 2000 due to low river levels. c) The moderately dry conditions in western Afghanistan are also likely to have a negative impact on rain-fed wheat production. This region had the highest production in both 1999, 176,000 tons, and 1998, 230,000 tons. This area also produces significant amounts of irrigated wheat. d) Current indications are for a successful harvest in north and north-east Afghanistan in 2000. 1.2 Cross-border trade: a) Afghanistan's national food deficit is made good by imports. The FAO/WFP crop assessment report estimated the 1999/2000 cereal import requirement at 1.1 million tons, up from 740,000 tons in 1998/99. b) The main source for cereal inputs is Pakistan. However, the implementation of stricter border controls in October 1999, following the military takeover in Pakistan, resulted in an acute decrease in the cereal flow from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Imports from Pakistan are particularly important for urban areas such as Kabul and Kandahar, for traditional food cereal deficit areas, such as the Central Highlands, and for those areas of Afghanistan affected by drought. c) WFP staff in Jalalabad and Kabul report that the amount of cereals crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan has increased since last October but has not attained pre-October levels. Cereals also enter Afghanistan from Iran through Herat but the quantity is not comparable to that received from Pakistan. Kandahar is reportedly receiving cereals from Kazakhstan by way of Herat, as the traditional route through Quetta is constrained by a combination of drought in Pakistan and border restrictions. 1.3 Wheat floor price increases: a) The poor cereal production year in 1999, combined with the restrictions on cross-border trade, has resulted in significant increases in the price of wheat flour. b) The cost of wheat flour began to increase in October 1999 in all major urban centres across Afghanistan. Prices peaked in December 1999 and then began to decrease. As at the end of March 2000, wheat flour prices were still significantly above their pre-October levels. c) Currently WFP is implementing the second phase of its emergency intervention for 200,000 people using 7,164 tons of food aid. This intervention was undertaken on the basis of an emergency food needs assessment WFP conducted in October/November 1999 following unfavourable 1998/99 weather conditions and increasing wheat flour prices in several districts of Kandahar, Zabul and Helmand provinces. The first phase of the distribution was completed in February and March and the current phase will be completed over the next few weeks. Additional assessments were carried out in four districts of Ghazni though no emergency intervention has yet taken place. 1.4 WFP VAM surveys demonstrate that female headed households are the most food insecure. Clearly, these will be the families who will suffer the most should access to food become more restricted. In order to reach Afghan women and identify ways to assist them, WFP has hired national female staff for each of its six sub-offices and is designing activities, such as the women's bakeries in Kabul and Mazar-I-Sharif and women's micro-enterprise activities in Badakhshan to reach the most vulnerable women. C. EAST TIMOR 1. UPDATE - information as of 19 April 1.1 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission: a) An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited East Timor between 30 March and 7 April output of maize and rice is expected to be satisfactory and certainly better than the severely reduced crop in 1997/98, due to El Nino drought. b) The goal of the mission was to assess current prospects for the main maize and rice harvest, which is underway or to commence in the coming weeks and to review overall food supply prospects, the need for further food aid intervention during the 2000/2001 marketing year and to re-examine the degree of vulnerability. The current mission provides an update to an FAO/WFP assessment in November 1999, that evaluated the level of disruption to the agriculture sector and household access to food in the wake of intense violence and large-scale population displacement following the 30 August referendum for independence. c) In the agriculture sector the main repercussions of the civil unrest were the direct loss of food and seed stocks, loss of productive assets and displacement of the farming population. These in turn affected planting of main season crops in November/December, as it is confirmed by group interviews of the 26 communities visited by WFP throughout the territory. The present mission observed that, although maize planting was later this season, the delay itself will not seriously affect yields, especially as overall rainfall has been favourable due to La Nina. d) Following Indonesia's withdrawal last September, various Government support measures such as the sale of subsidized rice to poor rural families no longer exist. Market surveys conducted in several locations suggest that prices are higher than they were at the same time last year. Currently household purchasing power is very low or non-existent. Market opportunities are also hampered by the poor condition of many secondary and tertiary roads following this year's heavier-then-normal rainfall. Income-generating possibilities are few, and formal employment has been greatly reduced by the lack of public sector jobs. The most vulnerable households are those that rely primarily on cash income from non-export cash crops, for which the internal market has collapsed due to unemployment and the lack of effective purchasing power, whilst no trade exists across the border with West Timor. Equally vulnerable until June/July are those households using mixed strategies of growing non-export cash crops and export commodity crops, for their income will once more flow significantly only as coffee-cherry sales begin. The third group of households likely to be moderately to highly vulnerable are late-returning subsistence farmers reliant on maize (those with scant or no access to irrigated rice fields). e) Due to the ongoing and pending mid-year harvests of both maize and rice, estimated requirements until the end of 2000 indicate that requirements should decrease to 1,700 tons/month from May up to July 2000. From August to the end of December, food aid quantities will again increase to about 2,200 tons/month, due to needs generated by the annual lean season. f) The full document of the mission report is available on http://www.fao.org go to Economics, go to Giews, then Special Reports. 1.2 WFP activities: a) The current WFP emergency operation (EMOP 6177) has a total food requirement of 8,333 tons, worth USD 5.6 million. This operation, which provides relief food for populations affected by civil strife, for a period of six months. It replaced the initial two-month WFP emergency operation which mobilised and delivered over 6,000 tons of food aid and was completed in November. b) As of end of March, 2,100 tons have been delivered by WFP-chartered helicopters to remote or inaccessible areas. Besides distributing food, WFP has been giving support to the program activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and sister UN organizations. To provide continuity in deliveries and assessments, WFP will continue to transport partners to areas without road access as long as its helicopter operations persist. c) Between September 1999 and 31 March WFP convoys moved 12 000 tons of food out of Dili for distribution throughout East Timor. Besides food, WFP road convoys have been assisting international and local agencies in transporting refugees, building materials, and non-food items. D. NORTH CAUCASUS 1. UPDATE - most information as of 18 April 1.1 The ongoing WFP emergency operation(EMOP 6197) aims at providing basic food rations to 150,000 internally displaced Chechens in Ingushetia until 30 June 2000. The operation is incorporated in the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Northern Caucasus. WFP food assistance is currently reaching 147,650 of these IDPs, of which 75 percent are women and children. The remaining IDPs receive assistance from other sources such as ICRC and international NGOs. The host families of the IDPs are receiving support from UNHCR. 1.2 With the onset of warm weather, there have been returns of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Chechnya, at an estimated flow of 250-300 persons per day. The returnees are reported to be going back with all their assets and property. In order to facilitate the return of IDPs, WFP is considering the provision of a food package to IDPs returning to Chechnya. This is to be done in cooperation with UNHCR and UNICEF who would provide essential non-food items. The WFP component of the package would consist of a 30-day ration. 1.3 The most recent IDP registration exercise conducted by UNHCR and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) indicates that, as at 5 April 2000, there are a total of 213,820 Chechen IDPs in Ingushetia. Some 75 percent of the IDPs are living with host families. 1.4 As of 16 April, 68 percent of the food needs, in tonnage terms, have been resourced thanks to contributions from the US, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark and the Czech Republic. The food pipeline for pulses, oil and salt is well covered into June. The supplies of wheat flour and sugar however are sufficient only till mid-May. WFP locally purchased 868 tons of wheat flour, which will be delivered directly to the DRC warehouse in Nazran as of next week. 1.5 A total of 5,155 tons of WFP food commodities have been delivered in the region, of which 3,622 tons have been distributed. 1.6 On 24 April UN carried out its first rapid humanitarian needs assessment by international staff in Chechnya. The mission assessed staff safety and humanitarian conditions in three locations, Achkoi-Martan, Urus Martan and Alkhan-Yurt. The team consisted of the representatives from UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, OCHA and the Office of the Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD). UN is planning to deliver some assistance inside Chechnya in collaboration with the Russian Government and the local authorities in Chechnya. Note: all tonnage figures in this report refer to metric tons (End WFP Emergency Report No. 16 of 2000 - April 21, 2000) distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Food Program Reports: http://vwww.vita.org/disaster/wfp