DUSHANBE, April 14, Asia-Plus — Worldwide, 37 countries are currently facing food crises, according to UN FAO’s latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
International cereal prices have continued to rise sharply over the past two months, reflecting steady demand and depleted world reserves, the report said. By the end of March prices of wheat and rice were about double their levels of a year earlier, while those of maize were more than one-third higher, according to the report.
The UN agency’s experts express concern about rising prices of bread, rice, maize, milk, vegetable oil, beans and other basic food products and expect expenses of the poorest countries on grain imports to rise 56 percent this year.
According to FAO, world wheat prices have risen 181 percent in 32 months to February 2008.
The report lists Tajikistan among 37 countries in crisis requiring external assistance.
Countries in crisis requiring external assistance are expected to lack the resources to deal with reported critical problems of food insecurity. Food crises are nearly always due to a combination of factors but for the purpose of response planning, it is important to establish whether the nature of food crises is predominantly related to lack of food availability, limited access to food, or severe but localized problems.
According to the report, in Tajikistan, the food security situation is particularly difficult. Low purchasing power continues to limit access to expensive wheat, vegetable oil and fuel. Under normal conditions, most of the population spend over half of their income on food, while the most vulnerable spend 70-80 percent. Since late last year, the prices of bread, oil and wheat based products have doubled while the price of many other basic goods has increased by half. An extremely cold winter caused considerable damage to herd productivity and winter crops. Lack of heating and a shortage of water (frozen) in January and February has meant that most people spent more on food, ate less, and that household food stocks are historically low. Food Security Cluster agencies in the country estimate that 550 000 people are most seriously affected, of whom at least 260 000 need immediate support. A UN Appeal for USD 25 million to help vulnerable populations remains only one quarter funded. Meanwhile, with the onset of spring, the population faces, further hardship related to avalanches, mudslides and flooding.
