Almost 7 million people in Sudan will still require food aid this year, although the country is likely to reap a reasonably good harvest late this year and into next year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) said Friday.

Some 6.7 million people in the East African country will require about 800,000 tons of targeted food assistance this year, the agencies said.

With favorable rainfall, a low incidence of pests and diseases and improved security over most of the country, the agencies said Sudan's overall cereal production in 2006 would amount to about 5. 3 million metric tons. The total would be 55 percent higher than the very poor 2005 harvest and 17 percent above the average of the last five years.

However, many Sudanese, who have either been forced to flee their homes because of fighting, are in the process of returning home following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Sudan and rebels in the south.

These people include more than 2 million internally displaced persons, about 900,000 returnees and close to 3.5 million highly vulnerable people in Darfur in the west, in the south and in marginal areas of the central and eastern parts of the country, the agencies noted.

Source: Xinhua