[Timor sections only]

WFP EMERGENCY REPORT Issued weekly by the United Nations World Food Programme

Report No. 16 of 2000 Date: 21 April 2000

From Francesco Strippoli, Senior Humanitarian Advisor. Available on the Internet on the WFP Home Page at http://www.wfp.org/ or by e-mail from Natasha.Nadazdin@wfp.org . For information on resources, donors are requested to contact Aleesa.Blum@wfp.org or Marius.deGaayFortman@wfp.org at WFP Rome, telephone 39 06 6513 2004 or 06 6513 2250. Media queries should be directed to Trevor.Rowe@wfp.org telephone 39 06 6513 2602. The address of WFP is Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, 00148 Rome, Italy.

C. EAST TIMOR 1. Update - information as of 19 April a) An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited East Timor between 30 March and 7 April; satisfactory output of maize and rice expected in spite of late planting; overall rainfall has been favourable.

b) Most vulnerable households rely on cash income from non-export cash crops; equally vulnerable those households practising mixed strategies of growing non-export cash crops and export commodity crops; moderately to highly vulnerable are late-returning subsistence farmers reliant on maize and no access to irrigation.

c) Estimated requirements until end 2000: 1,700 tons/month expected from May up to July 2000; from August through December increase expected to about 2,200 tons/month, due to needs generated by the annual lean season.

d) Full mission report available on http://www.fao.org go to Economics, go to Giews, then Special Reports.

e) WFP activities: ongoing EMOP 6177 provides food aid for populations affected by civil strife; total food requirement 8,333 tons; worth USD 5.6 million; by end March 2,100 tons delivered by WFP-chartered helicopters for distribution in inaccessible areas; WFP giving support to NGOs and sister UN organizations; by road WFP convoys moved 12,000 tons of food for distribution throughout East Timor between September 1999 and 31 March.

C. EAST TIMOR

1. UPDATE - information as of 19 April

1.1 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission:

a) An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission visited East Timor between 30 March and 7 April output of maize and rice is expected to be satisfactory and certainly better than the severely reduced crop in 1997/98, due to El Nino drought.

b) The goal of the mission was to assess current prospects for the main maize and rice harvest, which is underway or to commence in the coming weeks and to review overall food supply prospects, the need for further food aid intervention during the 2000/2001 marketing year and to re-examine the degree of vulnerability. The current mission provides an update to an FAO/WFP assessment in November 1999, that evaluated the level of disruption to the agriculture sector and household access to food in the wake of intense violence and large-scale population displacement following the 30 August referendum for independence.

c) In the agriculture sector the main repercussions of the civil unrest were the direct loss of food and seed stocks, loss of productive assets and displacement of the farming population. These in turn affected planting of main season crops in November/December, as it is confirmed by group interviews of the 26 communities visited by WFP throughout the territory. The present mission observed that, although maize planting was later this season, the delay itself will not seriously affect yields, especially as overall rainfall has been favourable due to La Nina.

d) Following Indonesia's withdrawal last September, various Government support measures such as the sale of subsidized rice to poor rural families no longer exist. Market surveys conducted in several locations suggest that prices are higher than they were at the same time last year. Currently household purchasing power is very low or non-existent. Market opportunities are also hampered by the poor condition of many secondary and tertiary roads following this year's heavier-then-normal rainfall. Income-generating possibilities are few, and formal employment has been greatly reduced by the lack of public sector jobs. The most vulnerable households are those that rely primarily on cash income from non-export cash crops, for which the internal market has collapsed due to unemployment and the lack of effective purchasing power, whilst no trade exists across the border with West Timor. Equally vulnerable until June/July are those households using mixed strategies of growing non-export cash crops and export commodity crops, for their income will once more flow significantly only as coffee-cherry sales begin. The third group of households likely to be moderately to highly vulnerable are late-returning subsistence farmers reliant on maize (those with scant or no access to irrigated rice fields).

e) Due to the ongoing and pending mid-year harvests of both maize and rice, estimated requirements until the end of 2000 indicate that requirements should decrease to 1,700 tons/month from May up to July 2000. From August to the end of December, food aid quantities will again increase to about 2,200 tons/month, due to needs generated by the annual lean season.

f) The full document of the mission report is available on http://www.fao.org go to Economics, go to Giews, then Special Reports.

1.2 WFP activities: a) The current WFP emergency operation (EMOP 6177) has a total food requirement of 8,333 tons, worth USD 5.6 million. This operation, which provides relief food for populations affected by civil strife, for a period of six months. It replaced the initial two-month WFP emergency operation which mobilised and delivered over 6,000 tons of food aid and was completed in November.

b) As of end of March, 2,100 tons have been delivered by WFP-chartered helicopters to remote or inaccessible areas. Besides distributing food, WFP has been giving support to the program activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and sister UN organizations. To provide continuity in deliveries and assessments, WFP will continue to transport partners to areas without road access as long as its helicopter operations persist.

c) Between September 1999 and 31 March WFP convoys moved 12 000 tons of food out of Dili for distribution throughout East Timor. Besides food, WFP road convoys have been assisting international and local agencies in transporting refugees, building materials, and non-food items.

Note: all tonnage figures in this report refer to metric tons

(End WFP Emergency Report No. 16 of 2000 - April 21, 2000)

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