ERITREA: Poor harvest predicted

NAIROBI, 18 October (IRIN) - Below average rainfall and the disruption of farming activities in war-affected areas will produce a poor harvest this year in Eritrea. An October USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) warned that "agriculturally important areas" were expected to produce cereals, pulses and oilseeds far below previous harvests. Apart from poor rainfall because of regional drought, important agriculture-producing areas in western Eritrea had suffered because of "occupation of prime farmland in war-affected areas that led to the disruption of farming activities and displacement of farm households".

The FEWS report said the Eritrean government had released grain from Eritrean Grain Board (EGB) outlets in September at a fixed price, which had the effect of driving down soaring market sorghum prices. It warned that without continuous releases of grain "it is not clear how long sorghum prices will stay at this low level in view of poor crop production".

The weekly repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan has continued, with more than 24,000 to date returned to mainly western Eritrea under the UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme. Some 217,223 internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in 25 camps, mostly in Gash Barka and Debub (western Eritrea) and North Red Sea Zobas. An estimated additional 100,000 IDPs are staying among host communities, the FEWS report added.