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Mopti, Mali (IRIN) – It is raining in Mopti Region in central Mali and most of the fields are filled with millet and rice seedlings, turning the usually dusty landscape a vivid green. But interspersed with these are vast tracts of land that lie uncultivated because farmers could not get the seed to plant them.

The government estimates rice production this year could be reduced by 20 to 30 percent as a result, said USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network, (FEWS NET).

“This will have several dimensions: production will go down, farmers will be left more food-insecure, and they won’t have enough seed to plant next year,” said an international donor active in agriculture in Mali, who estimates that hundreds of hectares of land in Mopti will not bear crops this year because of seed shortages.

The cycle of drought and seed shortages, aggravated by political instability in adjacent northern Mali and a flow of refugees from there, has had devastating effects in Mopti region. Pockets of severe drought in 2011/12 left just 11 percent of households with enough seed to plant in this year’s season, the donor suggested. The closing of banks in Mopti to protect them from looters from the north has further squeezed farmers’ access to credit to buy seeds from elsewhere.

Most farmers produced enough grain in 2011 to last just five to six months, said Chery Traoré, agriculture programme manager at NGO Catholic Relief Services (CRS), leaving them with no seeds for planting because they had all been eaten, so they were forced to buy seed on the open market.

There is still a little time left to plant – Traoré says mid-August is probably the latest farmers can plant, but that is risky because millet and rice take several months to grow and the duration of the rains is uncertain, given the changing weather patterns affecting this region.

Farmers who managed to get seed to plant were positive about the rains so far, but still worried. IRIN spoke to two of them just outside of Sévaré, in Mopti Region. “We need these rains to last through August. If we can get good rains throughout, we may be okay this year,” said Moussa Touré. Mamadou Bodou, a father of 12, told IRIN: “I planted just one field this year – I can’t even pay off my debts with that – it will get me nowhere,” he said, pointing at the empty fields all around and stretching into the distance.

According to FEWS NET, the areas most affected by severe rice shortages are the agro-pastoral (mainly rice-growing) parts of Mopti Region, which stretch north all the way to Timbuktu, and the Inner Niger Delta zone, which relies on flood-based rice cultivation. The network predicts an average harvest in most of the rest of the country, but warns that a shortened rainy season and possible locust infestation would undermine the harvest.

Sightings of adult locusts have been reported in the Tamesna and Adrar areas of Kidal in northern Mali since May, but insecurity has limited access to evaluate the situation.

It is difficult to know the undersupply of seed required countrywide for an optimum planting season, given the lack of evaluations, but it could be as much as 50 percent, said Maguette Ndiaye, emergency coordinator at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

CRS ran several large seed fairs in Mopti Region in the run-up to planting. They gave farmers vouchers to exchange for seeds in the market and found an “enormous demand”, said CRS head Timothy Bishop, which was perhaps evidence of the extent of the shortage.

Critics say donors should have done more to foresee projected shortages and distribute seeds early. The European Union has not done enough, said one NGO; another said FAO did not present the needs in enough detail, but noted that FAO is severely underfunded this year.

Ndiaye said FAO has just US$4 million of the $10 million it needs to help Mali’s agriculture, fishing and livestock sectors, while its regional head, José Luis Fernandez, has stressed the severe shortage of funds for agricultural and livestock programmes throughout the Sahel.

Donor pull-out

Agriculture Minister Moussa Sidibé says donors have put funding and projects on hold because of the political situation, which has hit the agricultural sector hard and will inevitably impact this year’s harvest. “The donor pullout has severely affected us,” Sidibé told IRIN. “Up to’0 billion CFA [$355,822] worth of projects has been stopped… donors should not throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he told IRIN.

Dozens of agriculture programmes have been affected, including seed fairs, micro-finance for farmers, access to credit for fertilizers and seeds, training programmes, and assistance with rainfall monitoring and new seed varieties, among others.

A USAID-funded programme for CRS, which helps 47,000 farmers across Mopti, Gao and Douentza with micro-finance loans to purchase seed and fertilizers, and create a value chain for their products, has been stopped, said Chery Traoré.

“Without donor aid it’s unclear if the government will even be able to assess the harvest this year,” Gaoussou Traoré, head of programmes in the accelerated growth team at USAID, told IRIN.

On top of this, farmers face countrywide fertilizer shortages as suppliers have been reluctant to sell on credit because loans from last year were not sufficiently repaid, said Mary Diallo, coordinator of the government’s early warning system – Système d’Alerte Precoce (SAP).

In most years, the agriculture ministry subsidizes fertilizer prices in some areas, but funding shortages and insecurity in the north have stopped it from doing so extensively this year, said Sidibé. The ministry and German aid agency GTZ, which funds agricultural associations directly, are working with other agriculture donors to see if they can start doing the same.

FAO’s Ndiaye stressed that although severe shortages remain, agencies have been doing what they can – FAO provided seeds to 3,000 farmers in Kayes, the agricultural region in western Mali; it distributed rice seeds in the north through Handicap International and other NGOs, and helped rice farmers by irrigating their fields.

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– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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New York, NY, United States (4E) – JP Morgan Chase’s second quarter revenue fell by 17 per cent that saw its quarterly earnings decline by 8.7 per cent at $4.96bn, which was slightly lower than the previous quarter. The eagerly anticipated quarterly profit announcement comes at the back of news of a $4.4bn trading loss by the bank’s London offices.

The better than expected second quarter profits came two months after revelations of $2bn loss from botched trades that shocked many investors.

In addition to the a $4.4bn second-quarter loss, JP Morgan also revised its first-quarter earnings lowering profit by $459mn, which brings the total losses from the “London whale” trade transactions to around $5.8bn. The bank previously reported a $800 million loss in the first quarter.

In a statement from the bank regarding the bank’s revision of its first quarter profit and revenue figures, it said that the JP Morgan recently found out information that puts into question the integrity of the trader marks and also discovered that certain individuals were looking to avoid reporting the actual amount of losses in the previous quarter.

The massive loss was inflicted by Bruno Iksilon, a trader from the bank’s London Chief Investment Office, who lost billions in just one night. The loss got Ina Drew, who formerly heads the group from its New York headquarters, fired and according to DEO Jamie Dimon left the bank with “egg on its face”.

While Dimon admitted that there is no guarantee that the portfolio will lose more money, he predicts further losses on credit derivatives trades could reach $700mn to $1.7bn.

On Friday, the bank forced its traders and executives to be held responsible for the losses that occurred in their watch by giving back huge amounts of their compensation from stock grants and bonuses. This punishment known as “clawback” was introduced by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 following the Enron accounting scandal.

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New York, NY, United States (4E) – U.S. employers hired less workers than what was estimated in June, signalling sluggish progress towards reducing unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its report Thursday showing that the economy just added 80,000 jobs, which means the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 8.2 percent.

Based on the Labor Department’s monthly Employment Situation Report, private payrolls expanded by 84,000, while the government lost 4,000 jobs. Most economists expected the labor market to grow by 100,000 and a steady unemployment rate.

Some analysts in Wall Street actually raised their forecasts based on recent data. A day earlier, the ADP released its report that 179,000 new jobs were added in June.

The disappointing monthly report adds to a string of bad news that suggest weakening in the U.S. economy in the past several months, which has sent U.S. stocks tumbling. The stock markets on Thursday opened lower amid concerns that hiring has slowed, resulting to restricted consumer spending and making the economy more vulnerable to a declining global economy.

Data revisions were also announced for the months of April and May. In April, the jobs gained figure was revised down from 77,000 to 68,000 while in May the labor market grew by 77,000 from its previously reported figure of 69,000.

The underemployment rate, which measures the number of part-time workers who are seeking full-time jobs and those who have given up looking for a job altogether, has slightly increased from 14.8 per cent to 14.9 per cent.

Futures were already lower even before the scheduled announcement in the morning, although there was some optimism in the market as some analysts feel that Washington is moving closer towards more stimulus.

The latest report will be a major concern for the Federal Reserve as it shows that economic growth is not strong enough to lower unemployment that has stood above 8 per cent since February 2009. Fed policy makers look at the unemployment rate closely as a primary indicator whether they need to proceed with further monetary easing. 

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Arlington, Va., United States (4E) – For the first time in seven weeks, the average rates on fixed mortgages rose. However, rates are still near historic lows.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year loan ticked up to 3.71 percent. That is an increase from last week’s record low of 3.67 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average rate on the 15-year mortgage, popular among homeowners looking to refinance, rose from 2.94 percent to 2.98 percent.

The rate on the 30-year loan has been below 4 percent since December 2011. Industry analysts cite the low rates as a reason the housing market is showing some signs of life.

However, the pace of home sales is far from healthy. Economists caution it could be years before the market fully recovers.

Mortgage rates have been slipping because they tend to move in tandem with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The uncertainty over the ongoing and mounting eurozone debt crisis has moved investors more into treasuries. Treasury securities are considered safe haven investments, so as demand for them increases the yield falls.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – First-time unemployment claims dropped slightly for the week ending May 5, the United States Department of Labor said Thursday.

Some 367,000 newly jobless workers filed claims for unemployment benefits, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 368,000.

The less volatile four-week moving average was 379,000, down by 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 384,250.

However, the percentage of unemployed workers covered by the unemployment compensation insurance program nationwide has also fallen.

The most recent data is for the week ending April 28. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent then, which marks a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 2.6 percent.

The Labor Department reported that the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 21 was 6,423,383, down by 174,529 from the previous week.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 28 were in:

• Indiana (+2,294
• Florida (+1,767)
• Illinois (+1,512)
• Pennsylvania (+1,121)
• New Hampshire (+836)

The largest decreases were in:

• New York (-21,258)
• California (-6,790)
• Massachusetts (-2,530)
• Georgia (-2,110)
• Connecticut (-1,708)

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Arlington, VA, United States (AHN) – Mortgage rates in the U.S. have fallen to a record low-again.

The average rate for 30-year fixed loan slipped to 3.84 percent for the week ending May 3, down from 3.88 percent in theor week. It is the lowest ever for the 30-year since mortgage giant Freddie Mac started tracking rates in 1971.

The average rate for the 15-year dipped to 3.07 percent from 3.12 percent.

Lower interest rates will provide some cushion and support for the struggling housing market, but unfortunately, the U.S. economic recovery appears to be stalling, and that does not provide the confidence consumers want to take on the obligation of purchasing a home.

The Census Bureau reported earlier this week that homeownership in the U.S. dropped to the lowest level in 15 years, sliding to 65.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012, down from 66 percent in the previous quarter.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks were little changed on the open Monday after a report showed that U.S. personal spending was weaker than expected, and on news that Spain’s economy has fallen into recession.

Just before 10 a.m. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 28 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 7 points and the NASDAQ fell 18.

Market analysts are hopeful that the mostly positive first-quarter corporate earnings have boosted U.S. investors’ confidence enough that the gloomy news from Spain will not weigh too heavily on markets in the United States.

Not helping equities Monday was a government report that showed personal spending rose 0.3 percent in March, less than the expected 0.4 percent.

While investors remain cautious following the dire news out of Spain, they will also have plenty of other reports due this week that may keep them on the sidelines, including manufacturing data on Tuesday, the European Central Bank’s policy statement Thursday, and April’s U.S. jobs report on Friday.

U.S. stocks managed to close higher Friday, as better-than-expected corporate reports held more clout than a report showing disappointing first-quarter economic growth.

In world markets Monday, Spain’s government said its economy declined for the second straight quarter, putting the nation into a recession. The report came just a few days following S&P’s downgrade of Spain’s credit rating and a reading on the country’s unemployment rate that showed it hit a new high.

The news sent Europeans market lower.

Hong Kong ended higher. while markets in Tokyo and Shanghai were closed for holidays.

In currencies and commodities, the dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but was flat against the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery slid 73 cents to $104.20 a barrel, and gold for June delivery slipped $11.60 to $1,654.80 a troy ounce.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The U.S. economy created 120,000 new jobs in March, causing the unemployment rate to drop slightly to 8.2 percent, down from 8.3 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Nonfarm employment rose in manufacturing, food services and drinking; however, it was down in retail trade.

Although the report was good news, it was not great news. The economy needs to create from 120,000 to 200,000 jobs monthly to keep up with growth in the labor force. Many economists had expected job growth closer to the top of that range.

March growth was less than that of the previous three months, and not sufficient to fuel a recovery in the jobs sector of the economy.

The official number of unemployed persons remained virtually unchanged at 12.7 million, compared to 12.8 in February. However, the percentage of working-age Americans who had a job also dropped slightly to 63.8 percent in March, compared to 63.9 percent in February. Before the recession, 89 percent or more of working-age Americans had a job.

The gap between the percentage of working-age people who have jobs and the official unemployment rate is because people are only counted as unemployed if they actively look for jobs. Many discouraged workers eventually stop looking for jobs.

Long-term unemployment is defined as individuals who are jobless for 27 weeks or more and who continue actively to look for work. That number was essentially unchanged in March at 5.3 million, with those people accounting for 42.5 percent of the unemployed. That number has fallen by 1.4 million since April 2010.

The number of people who were working part-time because their employers cut their hours or because they were unable to find full-time work also fell. That number dropped from 8.1 to 7.7 million people.

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Cairo, Egypt (IRIN) – It has been three months since a fuel shortage hit Egypt, and people’s patience is wearing thin amid fears the crisis could disrupt the production of subsidized bread.

“I move from one petrol station to another every day to find the fuel necessary for the work of the bakery,” Omar Muselhi, a bakery owner from Giza, told IRIN. “I cannot do this for long. If things get worse, I will close down.”

Most of Egypt’s subsidized bakeries need diesel to operate, and some have had to close, for example in the Nile Delta governorate of Monofiya.

Outside Muselhi’s bakery, men, women and children form two long lines, and wait their turn.

“I buy 20 loaves of this bread for one pound, whereas the same number sells for four pounds at unsubsidized bakeries,” said Ayman Farahat, standing in line outside the bakery. “This shows how important these bakeries are for people like me.”

Observers say there is a 35 percent shortfall in fuel supplies. The government blames hoarding for the crisis. Thousands of cars queue outside petrol stations from early morning, while long queues form outside gas cylinder centers.

“We are doing our best to solve the problem, but what is happening is abnormal,” Petroleum Minister Abdallah Ghorab said on 24 March. “Some people take the subsidized fuel and sell it on the black market.”

The Petroleum Ministry has increased daily diesel supplies from 36,000 tons to 38,000 tons; petrol supplies from 16,000 to 18,000 tons; and gas cylinders from one million to 1.3 million.

But despite the move, there are numerous reports of fighting over fuel, reflecting citizens’ exasperation, and the need for further government intervention

Ambulance services are also at risk.

“The drivers go to petrol stations from early morning,” Naeem Rizk, the operations manager at Cairo’s main ambulance point, told IRIN. “Sometimes they spend the whole day waiting, but when their turn comes, they are told the fuel is over.”

When a policeman recently called Rizk to ask for help after he was wounded in a fight against armed men on the outskirts of Cairo, Rizk could not find an ambulance with enough fuel to take the policeman to hospital. The policeman’s colleagues had to call the Interior Ministry to borrow some.

Mohamed Abdullah, a 30-year-old ambulance driver, says his job has become even more stressful. “There are always long queues at petrol stations…This prevents me from reaching patients in time. The patients’ relatives always yell at me.”

Rethinking subsidies

Some economists believe the current crisis may force the government to rethink its fuel subsidies’ policy. Egypt spent the equivalent of US$83.3 billion subsidizing fuel over the past five years, according to the Petroleum Ministry.

“Around 60 percent of these subsidies go to people who do not deserve them,” said Rashad Abdo, a leading economist from Cairo University. “This makes it necessary for the government to rethink these subsidies.”

The government is currently reconsidering its support to major industrial institutions, which account for almost 70 percent of fuel subventions.

“If we can reduce petroleum subsidies by 10 percent, we can channel this money for the building of houses, hospitals, or schools,” said Petroleum Minister Ghorab. “We need to deliver subsidies to those who deserve them,” he was quoted as saying by al Masry Al Youm newspaper on 11 March.

Another government plan envisages the issuing of vouchers to poorer citizens to enable them to buy cooking gas for the equivalent of 83 US cents instead of US$5 for everyone else.

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– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Initial unemployment claims hit a four-year low during the week ending March 24, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

First-time claims from jobless workers fell by 5,000 to 359,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 364,000.

The less volatile four-week moving average was 365,000, which marked a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 368,500.

However, the percentage of workers covered by the unemployment compensation benefits insurance program also fell. It was 2.6 percent for the week ending March 17, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate of 2.7 percent.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 17, the latest week for which such data is available, was:

• Florida (+1,876)
• Hawaii (+469)
• Mississippi (+405)
• New Mexico (+292)
• Iowa (+278),

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