(New York, 31 December 2003): Rainfall in much of Southern Africa has been very low to date, leading to delayed planting in Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa and Mozambique, according to the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office (RIACSO). Farmers who planted despite the less than optimal conditions could face a reduced yield, while the window for re-planting is closing.
The situation in Lesotho is particularly problematic given a current 30-day weather forecast of dry conditions. Lesotho received insufficient rains during the last summer season, and

MBABANE, Dec 29 (AFP) - Swaziland will need to import some 86,000 tonnes of maize next year -- more than half the 148,900 tonnes needed, the agriculture ministry said in a statement Monday.

"This has been necessitated by the ongoing drought which has affected maize production and affected other cereal crops in the kingdom," it said.

Farmers in the tiny mountain state between South Africa and Mozambique have run out of maize stocks as a result of poor harvests, the statement added.

More than 300,000 Swazis already depend

Issued December 23, 2003
Seasonal cumulative satisfaction of maize water requirements is poorly correlated with early season rainfall. Scant early rains do not necessarily imply poor crop production for the 2003-04 season. Statistical interpretations of climate forecasts suggest that near-normal end-of-season maize crop water conditions are likely. Western Zimbabwe and Northern Namibia have below normal forecasts. Prospects for the season will come more clearly into focus by the end of January, once the quality of the December-January rains is known.

Highlights

This report includes:
A) Middle East and Central Asia: (1) Iraq, (2) Afghanistan

B) East and Central Africa: (1) DR Congo, (2) Burundi, (3) Rwanda, (4) Uganda, (5) Sudan, (6) Eritrea, (7) Ethiopia, (8) Somalia

C) West Africa: (1) Mauritania, (2) Guinea, (3) Sierra Leone, (4) Liberia, (5) Côte d'Ivoire

D) Southern Africa: (1) Regional, (2) Namibia, (3) Angola, (4) Zambia, (5) Zimbabwe, (6) Malawi, (7) Mozambique, (8) Swaziland, (9) Lesotho, (10) Madagascar

E) Asia: (1) Bhutan, (2) Indonesia, (3) DPR Korea

El Niño Update

This report includes:
A) Middle East and Central Asia: (1) Palestinian Territories, (2) Iraq, (3) Iran, (4) Afghanistan

B) East and Central Africa: (1) DR Congo, (2) Burundi, (3) Rwanda, (4) Tanzania, (5) Uganda, (6) Sudan, (7) Eritrea, (8) Ethiopia

C) West Africa: (1) Guinea Bissau, (2) Liberia, (3) Côte d'Ivoire

D) Southern Africa: (1) Regional, (2) Namibia, (3) Angola, (4) Zambia, (5) Zimbabwe, (6) Malawi, (7) Tanzania, (8) Mozambique, (9) Swaziland, (10) Lesotho, (11) Madagascar

E) Asia: (1) DPR Korea

MBABANE, 11 December (IRIN) - A legion of volunteer community activists in Swaziland are identifying orphans and vulnerable children - many of them affected by AIDS - and seeing to their nutritional, medical, educational and psychological needs.
"The community worker is called 'lihlombe lekukhalela', which means 'shoulder to cry on'. They are the person who children know they can go to for assistance. They can tell their troubles to this person, and find help," Ezrome Magagula, the community volunteer coordinator for the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, told IRIN.

INTRODUCTION
This is the last issue for 2003 of this report prepared by the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) on the food supply situation and cereal import and food aid requirements for all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The report is designed to provide the latest analysis and information on the food situation in these countries to governments, international organizations and other institutions engaged in humanitarian operations.

In this introductory part, countries in the sub-region facing serious food shortages are listed with principal