Eritrea dismisses concerns of food shortages

June 23, 2007 (ASMARA) — Eritrea on Saturday dismissed concerns of potential food shortages if annual rains are poor, saying the Horn of Africa country no longer needed handouts from other countries.

Stressing “great endeavours” made by the Eritrean people to boost food security, Information Minister Ali Abdu said fears of food shortages were “unfounded and unsubstantiated.”

He said that a government cash-for-work programme initiated in September 2005 and aimed at stemming dependence on relief aid was “working well.”

During a visit on Friday, UN special humanitarian envoy for the Horn of Africa Kjell Magne Bondevik said that food aid in Eritrea was “history for this country.”

The envoy did, however, express concerns over the success of government policy.

In 2005, the UN had estimated that some two-thirds of Eritrea’s 4.2 million people were in need of food.

With Eritrea’s major rainy season just beginning, analysts say it is too early to predict the success of the harvest, but water is a constant concern across the arid Horn of Africa which also includes Ethiopia and Somalia.

“There is no drought currently in Eritrea,” Ali added.

(AFP)