MADRID, November 10.— Food prices in poor
countries that are net importers are still very high,
despite a strong 2009 cereal harvest worldwide, the
UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) alerted
on Tuesday. It affirms that critical food insecurity
is affecting 31 countries, which require emergency
aid.
In
eastern Africa, the situation is particularly
serious now that drought and conflict have resulted
in 20 million people needing aid, according to the
FAO. "For the world’s poorest people who spend up to
80% of their household budgets on food, the food
price crisis is not yet over," said Hafez Ghanem,
FAO deputy director general.
In East Africa the situation is of particular
concern due to a poor harvest and a shortage of
pasture due to drought in various areas, increased
conflict, interruptions in trade and the persistence
of high food prices.
According to the report – which this UN agency
publishes every three months – approximately 3.8
million Kenyans are suffering from elevated or
extreme food insecurity, many of them in pastoral
and marginalized agricultural areas. In Ethiopia,
the number of people requiring emergency food aid
has reached 6.2 million.
In Uganda, approximately 1.1 million people have
needed food aid. In Sudan and Darfur the precarious
situation is worsening, given that 5.9 million
people need food aid. (EUROPE PRESS).
