From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Nov 13 2009 - 14:32:21 EST
Eritrea President says no hunger in 2010
Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:36am GMT
* All trade and investment permits reviewed next year * Aid agencies dispute
President's no hunger claim
By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - President Isaias Afwerki said Eritrea would not
suffer from hunger and food shortages in 2010, a government website
reported.
Hunger levels in Eritrea are ranked among the worst in the world by
humanitarian organisations, with the agriculture-based economy affected by
irregular rainfall.
But the president said Asmara would meet the demands of those regions
hardest hit.
"The Government has drawn up plans towards ensuring no-hunger situation
nationwide," the state website Shabait.com reported the president as saying.
"(The president) said that a time when the greater portion of the Horn of
Africa is expected to face acute food shortage, there would exist no hunger
in Eritrea in 2010," it said.
But the president, who was speaking in the coastal town Massawa, warned
living standards in Eritrea could still fall due to illegal trade, black
market currency exchange, and a lack of regular payment of taxes and customs
duties.
Isaias said all trade and investment permits currently in place would be
reviewed in 2010.
Projections made by various experts and humanitarian organisations are at
odds with the claim that the Red Sea state will be free from hunger next
year.
Last month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated
as many as two in every three Eritreans were malnourished, the second
highest percentage in the world after the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Analysts fear any widespread acute hunger in the country would be difficult
to arrest because of the travel restrictions Asmara places on humanitarian
organisations.
East Africa is facing a devastating drought. Aid agencies estimate 23
million are in danger, with 13.7 million in neighbouring Ethiopia at risk of
severe hunger. (Editing by Giles Elgood)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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