ERITREA: Food problems to persist to 2001

NAIROBI, 7 July (IRIN) - Despite the peace agreement being negotiated between Eritrea and Ethiopia, hundreds of thousands of war-affected Eritreans will require substantial food aid well into next year, the World Food Programme (WFP) stated on Thursday. The agency's Emergency Coordinator in Eritrea, Kofi Owusu-Tieku, was quoted in a UN press release as stating that WFP would be providing food relief through until April next year for some 750,000 internally displaced and war-affected people.

The bulk of displaced civilians are farmers from the Gash Barka region, eastern Eritrea, which was Eritrea's "breadbasket," producing 60 to 80 per cent of the country's grain before the war. "The rains came on time, but for most people it's simply too late. A great number of people are still uprooted, and the few who have returned have no seeds or tools. Because there will be no harvest for most of these people, they will be dependent on international food aid this year and well into next year," said Owusu-Tieku. WFP would need $79 million to provide 126,000 mt of food to the Eritreans, most of whom are women and children living in make-shift camps, dry riverbeds and caves; to date, it had received $7 million, he added.