Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ADDISABABA214
2009-01-29 05:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

IMPACT OF REDUCED COFFEE AND SWEET POTATO

Tags:  EAID PHUM SENV EAGR PGOV ET 
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O 290557Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3531
INFO AMEMBASSY ASMARA 
AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
USEU BRUSSELS
USMISSION GENEVA 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
DIA WASHDC
CJTF HOA
NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000214 


STATE DEPARTMENT AF/E, AF/PDPA, OES, AND PRM/AFR
USAID for AFR EGAST, CTHOMPSON
DCHA/AA DDIJKERMAN
DCHA/OFDA PMORRIS, KCHANNELL
DCHA/FFP JDWORKEN, PMOHAN
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, RTILSWORTH, AND LPANASUK
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ECARO JMYER, GPLATT, RFFPO NCOX
USMISSION UN ROME FOR RNEWBERG
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO
USEU FOR PBROWN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PHUM SENV EAGR PGOV ET
SUBJECT: IMPACT OF REDUCED COFFEE AND SWEET POTATO
PRODUCTION ON FOOD SECURITY IN SNNP REGION

-------
Summary
-------

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000214


STATE DEPARTMENT AF/E, AF/PDPA, OES, AND PRM/AFR
USAID for AFR EGAST, CTHOMPSON
DCHA/AA DDIJKERMAN
DCHA/OFDA PMORRIS, KCHANNELL
DCHA/FFP JDWORKEN, PMOHAN
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, RTILSWORTH, AND LPANASUK
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ECARO JMYER, GPLATT, RFFPO NCOX
USMISSION UN ROME FOR RNEWBERG
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO
USEU FOR PBROWN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PHUM SENV EAGR PGOV ET
SUBJECT: IMPACT OF REDUCED COFFEE AND SWEET POTATO
PRODUCTION ON FOOD SECURITY IN SNNP REGION

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. Late, uneven, and generally poor 2008 seasonal
rains resulted in poor coffee production and
expected decreases in sweet potato cultivation,
negatively affecting food security in eastern
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP)
Region. Humanitarian agencies expect food
insecurity in coffee-producing and sweet potato-
dependent areas of SNNP Region to continue until the
usual green maize harvest in June, negatively
affecting more than 600,000 individuals in coffee-
producing areas in the coming months.


2. In response, USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign
Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and USAID/Ethiopia
continue to provide assistance through non-
governmental organization (NGO) partners and report
on humanitarian conditions. In Sidama and Wolayta
zones, the Government of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia multi-donor Productive Safety
Net Program (PSNP) protects approximately 553,000
chronically food insecure individuals' assets and
livelihoods through predictable transfers of cash
and/or food from January to June 2009. USAID
provides approximately one third of all transfers in
the PSNP. With USAID/OFDA funds, GOAL is also
providing nutritional support to vulnerable
populations in SNNP Region. End Summary.

--------------
Coffee: An Important Cash Crop
--------------


3. In Gedeo and Sidama zones, SNNP Region, coffee
production and associated casual labor represent
important sources of income generation. According
to the 2003/2004 household economy analysis, 60
percent of poor coffee farmers in Gedeo Zone and
nearly 75 percent of poor individuals in Sidama Zone
earn a substantial proportion of income either from
coffee sales or associated casual labor. For many
coffee farmers, coffee production is the only means

of acquiring cash revenue, which farmers use to
purchase supplementary food items and agricultural
inputs and pay for school fees and health care.


4. Most coffee-producing parts of SNNP Region are
vulnerable to food insecurity. Even in non-coffee
crisis years, children are often underweight for age
and mothers are underweight for height due to low
average crop yields and limited saved crops,
according to UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) staff. Therefore, the
impact of low coffee production on nutrition is
often immediate and widespread.

--------------
Decreased Coffee Production in 2008/2009
--------------


5. In 2008, long dry periods and uneven rains
caused poor coffee seed formation in SNNP Region,
resulting in nearly 60 percent failed coffee
production in Sidama and Gedeo zones. According to
preliminary findings from the 2008 meher multi-
agency assessment team, decreased production is
threatening food security for more than 600,000
individuals during the next six months, as families
have less available income to purchase supplementary
food items. In addition to reduced coffee
production, decreased coffee and wage labor prices,
reduced casual labor opportunities, and increased
cereal prices are negatively affecting coffee
farmers and laborers, according to the assessment
team.


6. Up to 40 percent decreases in domestic coffee
prices and more than 50 percent increases in cereal
prices compared to 2007 have created adverse terms
of trade between coffee and major cereal crops,
according to OCHA staff. Coffee farmers typically
purchase cereal crops to meet food requirements
until the green maize harvest in June. The
combination of adverse terms of trade and reduced
coffee production have resulted in a shorter length
of time that income from coffee sales will cover
food needs.


7. Due to coffee production shortfalls and price
reductions, coffee processing plants are not
employing as many workers as in previous years and
are paying workers reduced salaries. According to
OCHA staff observations, only 32 of 85 wet coffee
processing plants are currently operating in Gedeo,
employing 60 casual labors per day compared to 600
last year. In Sidama, 132 of 288 wet coffee
stations had initiated operations as of mid-
December. In addition, the price of casual labor in
coffee processing plants has decreased by up to 38
percent compared to December 2007. OCHA staff
expressed concern that significant numbers of coffee
workers in production, processing, marketing, and
transportation are also unemployed or underemployed.

--------------
Sweet Potato: An Essential Transitional Crop
--------------


8. For many farmers in Wolayta Zone, SNNP Region,
sweet potatoes are a reliable food security crop,
providing critical food supplies between the cereal
harvest in December and the green maize harvest in
June. The sweet potato plant has the advantage of
having a late planting season--typically from
September to October--making the crop valuable to
farmers when rains are delayed. In addition, sweet
potatoes are short-cycle crops, enabling farmers to
harvest crops much earlier than cereals.

--------------
Sweet Potato Production Concerns
--------------


9. Late and uneven 2008 rains resulted in poor
sweet potato production, leading to an estimated 50
percent reduction in cuttings available for planting
in September, according to USAID-funded Famine Early
Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Although sweet
potato plants are currently forming normally, FEWS
NET estimates a 50 percent decline in sweet potato
production in 2009 compared to previous years due to
the reduction in cuttings for planting.

--------------
Increased Malnutrition
--------------


10. Local health officials and NGOs report
increased malnutrition rates in Sidama, Gedeo, and
Wolayta zones. In early January, USAID/OFDA partner
GOAL reported increased admissions to nutrition
centers in Shebedino and Boricha woredas, Sidama
Zone, and Damot Fulasa and Damot Gale woredas,
Wolayta Zone, compared to early December 2008. In
addition, an SNNP Region Food Security, Disaster
Prevention, and Preparedness Bureau and Emergency
Coordination Unit assessment indicated high levels
of severe and global acute malnutrition in Dilla
Zuria, Wanago, and Kochere woredas, Gedeo Zone. As
the peak April to May hunger period approaches,
humanitarian organizations expect child
vulnerability to acute malnutrition, morbidity, and
mortality to increase unless humanitarian
organizations provide timely assistance.

--------------
Conclusion
--------------


11. Areas striving to recover from serious food
shortages as a result of the 2008 belg failure are
once again facing serious humanitarian challenges.
Decreases in coffee production, coupled with low
coffee prices and unemployment in Sidama and Gedeo
zones are threatening food security for an estimated
600,000 people for the next six months. In Wolayta
Zone, humanitarian agencies anticipate significantly
reduced sweet potato production in 2009, limiting
communities' access to important transitional crops
between December and June harvests.


12. Through predictable transfers of cash and/or
food during the first six months of 2009, the PSNP
protects the assets and livelihoods of approximately
553,000 chronically food insecure people in Simada
and Wolayta zones. USAID provides approximately one
third of all transfers in the PSNP. In addition,
GOAL is providing nutritional support in Sidama and
Wolayta through the establishment of community-based
therapeutic feeding programs with USAID/OFDA funds.
USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/OFDA staff will continue to
monitor the food security situation in SNNP Region
and report on humanitarian conditions.

YAMAMOTO