World Update

SOMALIA - While the full impact of the crop failure will be felt from October 2001, when available food stocks will have been used up, the situation is expected to become especially acute after December, particularly if the short rainy (dyer) season is below average.

Source: World Food Programme.

http://www.wfp.org/english/

LUSAKA, Zambia - Zambian agriculture minister Suresh Desai Wednesday challenged the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa to respond to the severe food shortages currently experienced in some member countries by establishing a food reserve to cater for food emergencies. He said the situation in Africa where about 12.4 million people face severe food shortages and famine due to droughts and wars, is a major cause for concern to the COMESA region.

Source: Pan-African News Agency. Agencies now helping in Africa: Doctors Without Borders, http://www.dwb.org

North Korea — The catastrophic famine that ravaged North Korea for five years seems to be over — but that's probably because the most vulnerable elements of the population are already dead, demographers and aid workers say. About 2.5 million have died of hunger over the last five years. As the Soviet Union, its main trading partner, collapsed, food and crude oil shipments stopped abruptly, and North Korea quickly plunged into a tremendous agricultural and industrial crisis.

Source: Fox News. Agencies now helping in North Korea:  United Nations, http://www.un.org.