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Source: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1152520
UN warns of food crisis in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone
Posted on 27 August 2014 - 03:00am
Last updated on 27 August 2014 - 04:12am
FREETOWN: The United Nations warned Tuesday of a looming food crisis in eastern Sierra Leone, under lockdown since the Ebola-hit west African nation announced a state of emergency.
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said many of the deaths in Kailahun district, at the epicentre of the outbreak, had been among those aged 15 to 45, leading to an acute shortage in farm labour.
An FAO report written at the end of a 10-day study of the district concluded that a government ban on fairs and other public gatherings had "prevented farmers assembling in large numbers to undertake large scale farming".
"Hikes in prices of consumer goods have made people feed on cassava, bush yam, banana and maize, with many farmers mortgaging their plantations to make ends meet," the report said.
The report said there was a shortage of safe crop seeds in Kailahun, where the main export is coffee and cocoa, resulting from the disinfections of households where Ebola deaths had occurred...
UN warns of food crisis in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone
Posted on 27 August 2014 - 03:00am
Last updated on 27 August 2014 - 04:12am
FREETOWN: The United Nations warned Tuesday of a looming food crisis in eastern Sierra Leone, under lockdown since the Ebola-hit west African nation announced a state of emergency.
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said many of the deaths in Kailahun district, at the epicentre of the outbreak, had been among those aged 15 to 45, leading to an acute shortage in farm labour.
An FAO report written at the end of a 10-day study of the district concluded that a government ban on fairs and other public gatherings had "prevented farmers assembling in large numbers to undertake large scale farming".
"Hikes in prices of consumer goods have made people feed on cassava, bush yam, banana and maize, with many farmers mortgaging their plantations to make ends meet," the report said.
The report said there was a shortage of safe crop seeds in Kailahun, where the main export is coffee and cocoa, resulting from the disinfections of households where Ebola deaths had occurred...