Ali Haji, chairman of the special committee, told his members on Wednesday that the committee was expected to submit by March 15 a report after visiting places and talking to farmers, according to reports reaching here.

Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will join committee members in their assessment of the local drought situation, said Rahma Mshangama, principal secretary in the Zanzibar ministry of agriculture, livestock and environment.

Delay of the annual long rainy season has caused drought that hit Unguja and Pemba, the two major islands of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, affecting the plantation of rice, banana, yams and the raising of livestock.

Local residents may need relief food, especially in Pemba where the drought has been raking havoc with its plantation, said the principal secretary.

Pemba last experienced a drought in 1980 when the World Food Program offered thousands of tons of relief food.

Source: China View