Government corruption and trickery cannot disguise yet another poor cotton harvest.
By Ulugbek Khaydarov in Jizak and Kamol Khalmuradov in Karshi (RCA No. 165, 29-Nov-02)

Uzbekistan's cotton harvest has once again failed to live up to expectations, despite large swathes of the population being forced to toil in the fields and much official "massaging" of statistics.

Spring rains washed away a significant part of the crop soon after it was planted - leaving the government goal of 3,750,000 tons of raw fibre a very hard one to meet.

Just one week before the official end

TASHKENT, Nov 13 (AFP) - Major cotton exporter Uzbekistan has only managed to harvest 84 percent of its planned cotton crop this year, Uzbek agriculture and water management ministry officials said Wednesday.

The world's second largest exporter and fifth largest producer of cotton, Uzbekistan has so far harvested only 3.17 millon tonnes of cotton compared to a state plan of 3.75 million tonnes, according to ministry figures.

The disappointing results are blamed on an unusually large amount of rain that fell in the normally hot and dry Central Asian region over the spring.

by Alyona Suslova, in Karakalpakstan
For the first time in three years I saw children swimming in the irrigation canals of Karakalpakstan. The rains have come this year, and local communities have thrown themselves into cultivating their rapidly expanding cotton, wheat and rice plantations. After three lean years, bread made from local grain is again being baked in the clay ovens.

Tleubai Uteuliev, a mechanic in the village of Kulakhmet in Kanlykul province, says he has been repairing his old tractor since June in the hope that this year they both will be back in business.

TASHKENT, Oct 18 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived Friday in Uzbekistan where he is expected to discuss regional security and the situation in Afghanistan with Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

The UN chief, who is on a 12-day tour of China, Mongolia and Central Asia, is also expected to meet Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Uzbek parliamentary deputies, a presidential spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the fight against terrorism, regional security, the creation of a non-nuclear zone in Central Asia as well as the situation in Afghanistan will be on the

Launched on: 21 August, 2001 for 4 months for CHF 1,006,653; operation extended by 5 months to 31 May, 2002
Beneficiaries: 20,000 beneficiaries with food support and up to 150,000 beneficiaries with essential drugs and preventive health care.
IN BRIEF

Appeal coverage: 75.6%

This Programme Update is intended for reporting on Annual Appeals.
Appeal Target: CHF 8,263,482
Period covered: January - March 2002

Operational Developments

The regional delegation made a successful start of the implementation of annual appeal objectives and forging new partnerships in a number of areas, in spite of the generally slow donor support in these first three months. The Government of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan outlined priorities for the current year as reducing poverty and raising wages. In Kyrgyzstan, however, the government owes a total of 180 million

The United Nations Children's Fund today issued a series of updates on emergency donor appeals. The reports detail the humanitarian conditions of countries in crisis for which appeals were launched in the beginning of 2002. Without an immediate infusion of donor aid, UNICEF's capacity to assist children and their mothers will be hindered, several reports reveal. Thier lives are threatened by disease, conflict, hunger and poverty.
The reports portray the circumstances in each country, achievements so far, unmet needs and their impact for the remainder of the year.

Rome, May 2002
Highlights

FAO's first forecasts for cereal production in 2002 and utilization in 2002/03 indicate that output will remain below the expected level of utilization and stocks will have to be drawn down again in 2003 for the fourth consecutive year. However, supplies are expected to remain ample, particularly of wheat and coarse grains.

Despite a generally favourable global food outlook, some 34 countries around the world are experiencing food shortages. The emerging situation in southern Africa gives particular cause for concern (see box on page 6).

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (2 May 2002) - Living and health conditions in drought-hit western Uzbekistan will be improved through a water supply project for which the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a loan of US$38 million.

The Western Uzbekistan Rural Water Supply Project aims to improve the quality and quantity of drinking water and sanitation to the rural communities in Karakalpalstan and Khorezm, among the country's poorest and driest regions experiencing the worst drought in a century.