FAO warns that food insecurity is set to rise again

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has warned that food insecurity may be on the rise again over the course of 2018 farming season, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The number of food-insecure people in the South African subregion is likely to rise over the course of 2018, partly reversing last year's sharp decline, the GIEWS alert warned.

According to the latest Special Alert issued by FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) and made available to NaijaAgroNet, FAO noted that in 2016, crop production declined due to El Niño drove up significantly the number of food-insecure people in the subregion.

In Malawi, for instance, FAO said, an estimated 6.7 million people and in Zimbabwe just over 4 million people were food insecure.  

“But the significant rebound in the subregion's cereal production to a record level in 2017 led food insecure numbers to fall by up to 90 percent, according to official estimates,” FAO said.

Maize production in 2017 increased 43 percent above the recent average and the subregion produced more than required for domestic consumption for the first time in five years, even excluding South Africa, a traditional net exporter. As a result, most countries were able to build up inventories. The higher stock levels should be able to partly cushion the effects of the likely production decreases to come. Local maize prices, currently down on a yearly basis, also reflect favourable supply conditions. 

However, at the household level, many smallholders and rural families are still recovering from losses due to the severe El Niño- associated drought, and they are vulnerable to a downturn, GIEWS noted. This is especially the case where harvests in 2017 were poor, such as Madagascar.

It is also likely to be the case in areas where the weather trends have been unfavourable, notably parts of Lesotho, southern and central areas of Mozambique, western South Africa, southern parts of Zambia and Malawi, eastern Zimbabwe and southwestern Madagascar.

Precipitation trends also matter greatly for the Fall Armyworm, an invasive species that has now been detected in all countries of the subregion, except Lesotho and Mauritius. While recent heavy rains in some localities may have contributed to containing the pest's spread, the general dry weather may help it spread and could exacerbate the impact on yields.

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Conflicts, droughts exacerbate food insecurity

NaijaAgoNet:

Drought linked to El Niño and civil conflict has pushed the number of countries currently in need of external food assistance up to 37 from 34 in March, according to a new FAO report.

The new edition of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report sighted by NaijaAgoNet, adds that Papua New Guinea, Haiti and Nigeria to the list of countries requiring outside help to feed their own populations or communities of refugees they are hosting.

In Haiti, NaijaAgoNet gathered the output of cereals and starchy roots in 2015 dropped to its lowest level in 12 years. Around 3.6 million people, more than one-third of the population, are food insecure, almost half of them "severely", while at least 200 000 are in an extreme food emergency situation.

According to the report, Haiti's woes are largely due to El Niño, which has also exacerbated the worst drought in decades in Central America's dry corridor.

In Southern Africa, El Niño impacts have significantly worsened food security and the 2016 cereal harvest currently underway is expected to drop by 26 percent from the already reduced level of the previous year, triggering a "substantial rise" in maize prices and import requirements in the coming marketing year.

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Food insecurity looms in South Sudan

 NaijaAgroNet

The World Food Programme (WFP), an agency of the United Nations Organization, has alerted the world that South Sudan  is under the threat  of the worst levels of food insecurity  because of a combination of conflict, high food prices and a worsening economic crisis, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, released recently, confirmed fears that ceaseless conflict and the onset of the lean season are intensifying alarming levels of hunger both in conflict-affected areas and in other parts of the country, NaijaAgroNet gathered..

Joyce Luma, WFP’s Representative and Country Director in South Sudan said, “millions of people in South Sudan are trapped by a terrible mix of brutal conflict, rising hunger and a deepening economic crisis.

A staggering number of people are hungry. This analysis is a chilling reminder to the world that South Sudan cannot be forgotten,” Luma said in a statement issued in Nairobi..

NaijaAgroNet also learnt that the IPC result indicates that about 4.6 million people, or 40 per cent of South Sudan’s estimated population, face acute hunger in the next three months and will require urgent lifesaving food or livelihood assistance.

WFP also fears that lack of funding and shrinking humanitarian access are compromising relief agencies’ ability to meet South Sudan’s escalating needs, NaijaAgroNet gathered.

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FAO to unveil report of hungry people

NaijaAgroNet

 

The annual State of Food Insecurity in the world report would be unveiled at the forthcoming World Food Summit in Rome with expectation it will provide new figures for the number of chronically hungry people globally, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The meeting, NaijaAgroNet  reports, would also take stock of progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) as it kicks off on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that United Nations (UN) bodies slated to present their reports include the three Rome-based food agencies, namely the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the UN World Food Program (WFP).

The new hunger report, NaijaAgroNet gathered, would be presented jointly at FAO’s headquarters by its Director-General José Graziano da Silva, IFAD Associate Vice-President, Josefina Stubbs and Stanlake Samkange, Director of WFP's Policy and Programme Division.

In addition, Maurizio Martina Italy's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, NaijaAgroNet learnt, would participate via videolink from EXPO 2015 in Milan.

This year’s edition of State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) contains updated estimates of the number and proportion of hungry people in the world in 2015, the target year of the Millennium Development Goals.

It also offers analysis into what drives successful anti-hunger programs, such as agricultural investments, in addition to the growing importance of social protection schemes and the new challenges presented by the increasingly protracted nature of crises, NaijaAgroNet also gathered.

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Cereal price remain high in Nigeria despite good harvest

Maize Plant

Despite a bountiful harvest in 2011 in Nigeria, the market price of cereal is still on the upward trend.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the forecast for cereals production for 2012 set a new record at 2,371 million tonnes as against 2,344 million tonnes of 2011.

Resources made available to NaijaAgroNet by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed that the growing price of cereal is attributable to the removal of fuel subsidy in the early days of 2012 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Other factors responsible for the price hike include civil strive and insecurity in the northern part of the country, strong cereal demand from the brewing as well as the huge demand from poultry sector.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that in spite of the huge record forecast, the Sahel belt still has a reduction in cereal production which also affected supplies.

Ironically, FAO affirmed that some sub-regions recorded price reductions during the early period of the harvest season, citing an instance with Damanau International Market in Kano, which recorded the highest decline in the West Africa region within this period.

According the UN agency, Dawanau International Market recorded a 12 per cent and 15 per cent decline in the prices of maize and sorghum respectively compared a month prior to harvest.

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