East Africa Recoils Amid Drought
19 October 2009 A prolonged drought in east Africa has hindered production of key commodities and driven prices higher across the region, Kenyan newspaper Business Daily reported on Friday.
While coffee output from Africa’s top producers — Ethiopia and Uganda — have been hindered by low rainfall levels, both countries expect a bumper crop this year due to expected rains later this year. Corn farmers, on the other hand, could be further impacted by the rainy season as they begin to bring in the harvest this month. A heavy rainy season could prevent farmers from harvesting already low yields left by drought.
The Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) expects corn harvests across the region to reach just 60% of last year’s volumes.
Kenya and Tanzania produced 2.25 million and 3.659 million tonnes respectively in 2008.
To prevent shortages, Tanzania banned corn exports earlier in the year, and Kenya is importing corn from South Africa to bolster reserves.
Corn trading, as captured by EAGC’s informal cross-border monitoring system, fell 44% in September to 5,598 tonnes from 10,076 tonnes in August.
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