ReliefWeb

Harvest prospects are favourable, reflecting above-normal rains in August and September. Pastures are abundant and the pest situation remained mostly calm. A joint FAO/CILSS Crop Assessment Mission from 18 to 22 October estimated 1999 cereal production at 1 153 294 tonnes (rice in paddy equivalent), which is 15 percent below the 1998 record but 9 percent above the five-year average. The overall food supply situation is satisfactory. However, impassable roads due to heavy rains in recent months have affected market supply. Prices of cereals decreased in rural areas as producers sold their stocks before the harvest. WFP distributed 1 337 tonnes of food in deficit zones (Mayo- Kebbi, Tandjilé, Logone occidental and Logone oriental) and 640 tonnes as emergency relief to refugees in Adré in the east.