"Recovery and food security strategies that can reduce the region's vulnerability to drought" will be the main focus during the three-day visit of Martti Ahtisaari, the UN secretary general's special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.

The drought is threatening widespread crop failures and water shortages, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which states that like neighboring Ethiopia, Eritrea's agricultural sector was hit hard by inadequate rainfall in the first half of the year.

Eritrea normally produces some 450,000 tonnes of grain each year, but produced only 54,000 tonnes last year, OCHA said last week. This year's forecast around 210,000 tonnes.

The Horn of Africa country relies heavily on international food aid.

Following an initial visit in July, Ahtisaari will go to drought-affected regions and meet with Eritrean government officials, donor country representatives, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies.

Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, also spent three days in Ethiopia before travelling to Eritrea.

TERRA.WIRE