James Hall FOR THE third consecutive year, road freight hauliers will be pressed into service by international food relief workers to stave off starvation in Swaziland. A new crop projection by the World Food Programme, used to co-ordinate relief efforts, predicts a 2003/04 grain harvest of 78 100 tonnes, about a third of the country’s requirement of 205 800 tonnes. 127 700 tonnes of food will be imported commercially. A remaining 24 300 tonnes will come from food relief agencies. In drought-affected areas, only 50% of farmers will harvest anything this year. But food yields are down even in areas of good rainfall, due to Aids, which has eliminated commercial farm workers and able-bodied adults who normally cultivate small family fields. US$12 million in food relief began arriving in July to feed 132 000 people. Nearly a quarter of a million Swazis will be without food by early next year, the WFP has told trucking firms. Early warning and well co-ordinated transport made food distribution a success this year.
