July 9, Maseru. In a nationally broadcast address the Prime Minister of Lesotho has declared a national food emergency after another year of very poor crops.

In addition the World Food Programme has issued a food crisis warning for Lesotho. They are predicting 400,000 people to be starving between now and Christmas - possibly up to 600,000 if urban areas are included.

Under normal circumstances, Lesotho produces about 30% of her total food requirements. The food production assessments conducted for the 2006/07 cropping season indicate an estimated cereal production of 72,000 tonnes, for a population needing about 328,000 tonnes. This represents a decrease of 42% compared to last year.

The cereal import requirements for this year are estimated at 256,000 tonnes, of which 219,000 tonnes are likely to be commercial imports. With a small amount of food aid (about 7,000 tonnes) in the pipeline, there is a deficit of about 30,000 tonnes to be covered through Government and/or international assistance.

This deficit represents M58,736,250 in monetary terms.

Lesotho's food crisis is attributed to the successive severe drought, HIV/AIDS and widespread poverty. Recorded rainfall this year was far below normal, while temperatures were much higher than the average for the last five years. Precipitation during the month of February was the lowest recorded in the last thirty years.

The Prime Minister called on Development Partners and all the friends of Lesotho to assist in addressing and redressing this situation.