Farmers in the
Philippines will soon reap a harvest after using emergency seed supplies
to grow crops following a devastating typhoon that struck during
planting season, the UN food agency said Monday.
Super Typhoon Haiyan raked across the central Philippines last
November, killing at least 6,200 people with around 2,000 others still
missing, while also displacing four million and leaving tens of
thousands of farmers without their livelihoods.
Haiyan hit at a "terrible time" between rice planting seasons but
timely seed replacements have ensured a second harvest is not lost,
said Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Last year the agency had voiced concerns that without the
harvest, vulnerable farmers would not have been able to collect rice for
almost a year -- until October or November 2014.
"I am pleased to say that our support got there in time," he said
in a speech to local farmers who received 1.76 million tonnes of seeds
from the FAO after the typhoon.
"When the crop is harvested (in March or April)... it should
yield enough rice to feed 800,000 people for more than a year," he
added.
"This means that they will not only be able to feed their
families, but also sell the surplus and generate extra income which is
crucial for them to fully recover."
Graziano da Silva said Haiyan had destroyed 1.1 million tonnes of
crops, along with 33 million coconut trees in a major farming region
described by the Philippine government as among the poorest.
He said providing coconut farmers with other sources of income,
such as helping them plant faster-yielding crops, was a top FAO priority
in the six to eight years it will take for new coconut trees to start
bearing fruit.
