WORLD
FOOD
PROGRAMME
FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE
ORGANIZATION
A Joint FAO/WFP Report on the Crop and Food Situation in the Country for the
Development Partners Group (DPG) Meeting of May 2006.
Highlights
1.
So far FAO has received a total of US$4,426,600 1 against the appeal of
US$6,592,9772 required to support the government efforts to procure and distribute
seed aid, control armyworm outbreak and vaccinate cattle against East Cost Fever;
the problems heightened by the 2005/06 prolonged dry spell. There is still a dire
need for additional contributions to fill the emergency support gap.
2.
Using part of the received contribution, 308 MT of various seed types have been
distributed in 24 districts and supplies including 17,000 litres of armyworm control
chemicals and 1,550 pieces of sprayers have been delivered at Tengeru, the
Northern Zone Plant Protection Centre of Ministry of Agriculture Food and
Cooperatives (MAFC). Procurement of 3,000 sets of protective gear 3 additional
5,000 pieces of sprayers is going on. FAO will procure vaccine enough to vaccinate
approximately 42,000 calves between August and October this year and nearly
1,023 MT of various types of seeds for planting during the next msimu season.
3.
Rainfall is reportedly good in most locations and crop performance, including
crops grown with seed aid distributed recently, is satisfactory. If the rain continues
to fall satisfactorily and no new disease and pest outbreaks occur, good crop
harvests should be expected. Progress on armyworm control is also good and
livestock are recovering. However, support is still required on all of these three
components.
4.
Availability of green vegetables, minor food crops, pasture and water are
improving in several of the locations that were hit hard by prolonged dry spell,
therefore impacting positively of food security. However, there are still concerns
on availability of and accessibility to major staple foods in some unimodal rainfall
areas where planting dates had expired at resumption of rains and food prices are
still high.
5.
The UNWFP and FAO headquarters has jointly approved an EMOP document to
provide about 565,000 food insecure and destitute people in ten regions with food
aid between May and Septembers 2006. The total EMOP budget is US$16,611,448
out of which US$4,129,824 were firm contributions as of April 2006.
1
2
3
This amount includes US$103,000 contributed by the Government of New Zealand based on the
August 2004 Rapid Vulnerability Assessment but availability of this contribution coincided with the
February 2006 appeal.
This is in considering vaccinating female calves only otherwise the requirement would be
US$8,654,370.
One set is composed of an overall, pair of gum-boots and pair of goggles.
1
UN/FAO
1.
Appeal for seed aid, armyworm control and livestock vaccination
The government of Tanzania appealed to donors in February this year to support it to
address the emergency situation concerning food and seed aid as well as armyworm
control and vaccination of cattle against East Cost Fever. Donor contributions through
the FAO for the agricultural activities have reached US$4,426,600, leaving an
emergency support shortfall of US$2,162,377 as shown in Table 1. Immense
donor support is still required to help government contain the adverse situation caused
by the 2005/06 long dry spell.
Table 1: Financial contributions4 and remaining gap
Donor
New Zealand Government
United Kingdom Government
(DFID)
Netherlands Government
European Commission
Swedish Government (SIDA)
TOTAL
Total appeal
Remaining financial gap
(US$)
103,600
1,218,000
1,205,000
1,200,000
700,000
4,426,600
6,592,977
2,166,377
2.
Procurements and distributions
With part of the funds received, the following have been implemented or are planned:

Procurement and distribution of 308 MT of seeds (maize, sorghum and beans) in
24 districts. The seeds were planted in bimodal rainfall areas during the current
masika rainfall season. A further 1,023 MT will be distributed in 41 districts in
unimodal areas for planting during the next msimu rains in November.

Delivered to MAFC (Tengeru) 17,000 litres of pesticides and 1,550 sprayers.
Procurement of 3,000 sets of protective gear (overalls, gumboots and goggles)
and additional 5,000 pieces of sprayers is going on.

FAO is working with MAFC to source 5,000 bundles of cassava cuttings for
Kibaha District Council and Kibaha Town Council.

Vaccines enough to vaccinate approximately 42,000 calves will be procured and
used between August and October this year.
3.
Rainfall, crop development and livestock conditions
The long rains (masika) started in most of the bimodal rainfall areas and resumed in the
unimodal areas. Satellite images and ground rain gauges (Figure 1) show that in most
parts of the country overall rainfall was between 150 mm and 300 mm during the month.
However, divergences to this rainfall range were observed, at lower rainfall amounts in
most of the northern highlands and higher rainfall amounts in some coastal areas. The
start of masika rains allowed farmers in the bimodal areas to plant in March and crops
that survived a November 2005-February 2006 prolonged dry spell in the unimodal
areas continue to grow. The 308 MT of various kinds of seeds procured by FAO with
4
This excludes US$50,000 which the US contributed through USAID, which procured and subsequently
handed to government armyworm control gear.
2
donor contribution to government appeal for emergency seed were distributed in 24
districts in the bimodal rainfall areas and were planted. If rain continues to fall
satisfactorily, current pest outbreaks are controlled and no new disease and pest
outbreaks occur, good crop harvests should be expected. A better picture of crop growth
and potential harvest will be provided by MAFS because it’s staff are currently mobilizing
preliminary crop assessment and production forecast missions, which normally take
place between April and May.
Figure 1: March 2006 Rainfall
Estimate (mm) based on
satellite and rain Gauge Data
Source: NOAA CPC FEWSNET
The rains have also helped rejuvenation of vegetation and pasture and the recharging of
water sources. Pasture and water availability have helped on partial recovery of animal
health but vaccination, especially of young female calves, is still important to facilitate
rebuilding of health cattle herds.
4.
Food security situation
The ongoing rains have enabled growth of crops with short maturity period such as some
legumes and vegetables, which people are now consuming while waiting for major staple
foods to mature in some of the areas hit hard by prolonged dry spell in November 2005February 2006. Harvesting is expected to start around the end of May but, during food
shortage periods, farmers consume unripe green crops. In some areas the available
short maturity period and green crops are complementing grain being distributed by
government at a subsidized price of TShs 50 per kg.
5.
The UNWFP Emergence Operation
The UNWFP Emergence Operation (EMOP) document has been jointly approved by the
UNWFP and FAO headquarters on 21st April 2006. The EMOP 10519.0 will provide a
basis for donor community to channel their food aid assistance to meet food requirement
for about 565,000 food insecure and destitute people in ten regions, between May and
Septembers 2006. About 34,000 MT of food will be procured by UNWFP and will be
distributed by field based NGOs. As of April 2006, confirmed contributions from donors
amount to US$ 4,129 824, as shown in table 2 below, against the total cost of US$
16,611,448 budgeted for this emergency operation.
6.
Mobilization of partners to implement EMOP
Following the approval of the EMOP document, a Letter of Understanding (LoU) has
been submitted to the Government (Ministry of Finance) for endorsement, to enable
3
WFP and its partners implement the food distribution as per the Government approved
distribution plan. At field level, all WFP partners involved in the first round of food
distribution have been mobilized and agreed on the operation modalities as reflected in
the Filed Level Agreement (FLA), to be signed bilaterally with the NGO partners.
Table 2: Contributions and remaining financial gap on EMOP
Donor
Saudi Arabia
Canada
Turkey
TOTAL
Total Appeal
7.
Received
(US$)
Shortfall
(US$)
2,000,000
1,929,824
200,000
4,129 824
16,611,448
EMOP implementation and prioritization
Based on the already pre-positioned food stocks in the UNWFP warehouses in Dodoma,
Arusha and Shinyanga, four regions of Shinyanga, Dodoma, Arusha and Kilimanjaro
have been prioritized for the first round of food distribution, commencing in second week
of May 2006. A total of about 5,000 MT of food will be distributed by the NGOs in the
field. The local Government in the targeted areas will work together with the EMOP
implementing NGOs to conduct a sensitization process which will enable the targeted
communities to select the most in need, through the Community Managed Targeting and
Distribution mechanisms (CMTD).
4