Hungry nations
a report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao) shows that 31 countries faced food emergencies during 1997 as against 25 countries in 1996. The report blames bad weather, poor crops and civil war for such calamities. Of the affected countries, Africa accounted for 20, Asia - five, eastern Europe - five and Latin America - one.
Drought and typhoon wrecked havoc in North Korea and caused a major food crisis. During the period, food supply situation in Iraq improved to some extent because of the oil-for-food programme. But malnutrition remained a serious problem for the country. A prolonged drought in Haiti, the Caribbean, resulted in reduced cereal output. In cis countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan, food aid continued to be required where over 16 per cent people needed assistance to survive. According to the report, food supply difficulties in eastern Africa were mainly caused by weather adversities.
fao reports that the cereal food aid shipments in 1997-98 (July-June) are expected to be close to previous year's level of nearly five million tonnes.
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