FOOD SHORTAGES THREATEN 24 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, Senegal, December 1983 A child stands beside carcasses of cattle destroyed by drought near the village of Ross-Bethio in the north. The food supply outlook for Africa in 1984 remains serious with 24 countries facing emergency situations, according to the third situation report of the FAO/WFP Task Force on Africa. The report confirmed the Task Force's warning last October of a sharp drop in cereal production in the 24 countries last year. It called for the delivery of 1.6 million tons in food aid and for almost $100 million for agricultural rehabilitation in the affected countries, which have a combined population of over 150 million people. The Task Force estimated the total cereal requirement of the 24 countries for 1983/84 at 5.3 million tons of which 3.4 million tons are estimated to be food aid requirements. Since known food aid pledges totalled 1.75 million tons, there remains a food aid gap of 1.6 million tons of cereals, 700,000 tons of which must be delivered by March. The 24 countries are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Upper Volta, Zambia and Zimbabwe.