MBABANE, 20 August 2008 (IRIN) - Erratic weather and a prolonged dry spell caused Swaziland to record its lowest ever maize harvest in April 2007; although the 2008 harvest was double the size, it is still not enough, and a lack of funds to meet the zooming price of inputs means people might have to go hungry again next year.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the 2007 harvest of 26,000 metric tonnes (mt) was 60 percent lower than 2006 production, and only one-third of the five-year average.

The poor harvest evoked a flow of aid from donors, which helped boost anticipated overall 2008 production, but the improved yields so far have created a catch-22 situation: the food security crisis has been mitigated to some extent and donors have reduced their support; now, input prices are sharply higher, but there is not enough money to subsidise the cost to farmers.

A July 2008 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission said Swaziland would need 212,000mt of cereal for the marketing year 2008/09 (April-March), against an estimated domestic availability of around 75,500 tonnes. The country would need to import around 136,500mt of cereals, comprising 81,000mt of maize, 42,500mt of wheat and 13,000mt of rice. An estimated 20 percent of the population is thought to be going hungry.

Rapidly soaring food prices are also seriously eroding food access for the poor and vulnerable groups.

"[In 2007] We received US$3 million [US$1.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and US$1.5 from the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department] and provided inputs to farmers, so that when rains returned this year [2008] they produced better yields," said Thamie Dlamini, FAO programme director in the capital, Mbabane.

This year, only $500,000 is available for farming inputs. The funds will come from the FAO's Initiative on Soaring Food Prices, for which Swaziland qualified after the government requested aid.

Four out of five Swazis reside on communal Swazi Nation Land, and depend on subsistence farming. In the past, farmers were able to purchase their inputs - from seed to rental of government tractors - with the proceeds from the sale of some of their produce, and cattle manure was harvested for fertiliser.

But this year inputs have become unaffordable even to farmers whose yields bounced back after the drought in 2007.

"The price hikes have been devastating for farmers," said the FAO's Dlamini. "A bag of fertiliser that cost R200 (about $26) last year has gone up two-fold, to R600 (about $78). It's been two months since I consulted our seed supplier, and back then prices had gone up 15 percent from last year. They'll be higher now that we are nearing planting season."

The skyrocketing price of diesel will also affect the cost of tractor rentals. Last year, rental rates ranged from $18 an hour for government tractors to about $26 an hour for privately owned ones. But there were only 257 tractors nationwide in the government fleet, so they were not always readily available.

A WFP survey found that slightly more than half the farmers ploughed with oxen, and teams were often borrowed by neighbours rather than renting a tractor.

In the run-up to the 2007 planting season, farmers were given vouchers with which they could buy seeds and fertiliser at 25 regional Input Trade Fairs, where information was also distributed by the FAO and ministry of agriculture workers.

The WFP reported a 50 percent rise in seed sales in 2007/08 planting season over the year before; this year, with first plantings only a month away in some areas, no trade fairs are scheduled.

"We don't have the money," said Dlamini. "We have to strategise how to use what funding we have this year for inputs - but at harvest time there is going to be a problem."

Even with good weather, yields will diminish because of the cost of inputs, at which time donors will be called upon to address another food shortage crisis, he said.

Long-term solution

Swaziland needs a long-term solution to ensure food security. "Climate change has permanently affected Swaziland's ability to produce food. The old days, when we got all the rainfall we needed for crops, won't come back, but there are other solutions," said Ben Nsibandze, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, who is in his 70s.

Nsibandze has seen the country's climate change, particularly in the last decade, when it has been his responsibility to coordinate food production information for UN agencies and other relief organisations.

"The planting season used to start in September; now you find it is October or even November," he said. "I've been saying for a long time that climate change has hurt Swaziland and we must find new ways of farming to compensate."

Humanitarian relief and agricultural officials note that donor assistance for short-term relief in emergency situations has been readily available, but lacking when it comes to longer-term investment in food security solutions.

"We have answers to Swaziland's food production problems, but they require long-term funding because they are long-term solutions - they can't fix the food shortage situation in one year, but they can in future," Dlamini said.

The FAO has been promoting conservation farming, or minimum tillage, often without using heavy equipment like tractors, and encouraging farmers to plant nitrogen-fixing crops rather than applying chemical fertilisers.

In 2007, the FAO set up a pilot programme on 300 farms. "The results were good, for a beginning," said Dlamini. "Yields were up. The farmers are continuing to practice what they've learned after the programme finished, and their yields remain high, no matter which region of the country they are."

What is required now is expanding the programme so more farms can participate. "Swazi farmers will only be convinced if they see the evidence coming from their neighbours' fields," said Dlamini.

jh/jk/he

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org

IRIN news