Countries in crisis requiring external assistance¹ (total: 34 countries)

Nature of Food Insecurity	Main Reasons	Changes from last report (April 2008)
AFRICA (21 countries)
Exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies
Lesotho	Low productivity, HIV/AIDS pandemic
Somalia	Conflict, adverse weather
Swaziland	Low productivity, HIV/AIDS pandemic
Zimbabwe	Deepening economic crisis, adverse weather
Widespread lack of access
Eritrea	IDPs, economic constraints
Liberia	War related damage
Mauritania	Several years of drought
Sierra Leone	War related damage
Severe localized food insecurity
Burundi	Civil strife, IDPs and returnees
Central African Republic	Refugees, insecurity in parts
Chad	Refugees, conflict
Congo, Democratic Republic of	Civil strife, returnees
Congo, Republic of	IDPs
Côte d'Ivoire	Conflict related damage
Ethiopia	Insecurity in parts, localized crop failure
Ghana	After-effects of drought and floods
Guinea	Refugees, conflict
Guinea-Bissau	Localized insecurity
Kenya	Civil strife, adverse weather, pests
Sudan	Civil strife (Darfur), insecurity (southern Sudan)
Uganda	IDPs
ASIA (11 countries)
Exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies
Iraq	Conflict and insufficient rainfall
Widespread lack of access
Afghanistan	Conflict and insecurity, inadequate rainfall
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. of	Economic constraints and effects of past floods
Myanmar	Cyclone
Severe localized food insecurity
Bangladesh	Past floods and cyclone
China	Earthquake in southwestern China
Nepal	Poor market access and drought
Philippines	Typhoon
Sri Lanka	Conflict
Tajikistan	Winter crop damage, poor market access, locusts
Timor-Leste	IDPs, high food prices
LATIN AMERICA (1 country)
Severe localized food insecurity
Bolivia	Past floods
EUROPE (1 country)
Exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies
Moldova	After-effects of 2007 drought

COUNTRIES WITH UNFAVOURABLE PROSPECTS FOR CURRENT CROPS ²

AFRICA
Ethiopia	Insufficient rainfall
Kenya	Insufficient rainfall, crop diseases
Somalia	Adverse weather, conflicts
ASIA
Afghanistan	Adverse weather, limited supplies and high food prices
Iran	Rainfall deficit, limited snowmelt
Iraq	Generalized insufficient rainfall
Jordan	Insufficient rainfall
Syrian Arab Rep.	Insufficient rainfall
Tajikistan	Adverse weather
Tunisia	Insufficient rainfall
Turkmenistan	Adverse weather

No change

Improving

Deteriorating

TERMINOLOGY

¹ Countries in crisis requiring external assistance are expected to lack the resources to deal with reported critical problems of food insecurity. Food crises are nearly always due to a combination of factors but for the purpose of response planning, it is important to establish whether the nature of food crises is predominantly related to lack of food availability, limited access to food, or severe but localized problems. Accordingly, the list of countries requiring external assistance is organized into three broad, not mutually exclusive, categories:

Countries facing an exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies as a result of crop failure, natural disasters, interruption of imports, disruption of distribution, excessive post-harvest losses, or other supply bottlenecks.

Countries with widespread lack of access, where a majority of the population is considered to be unable to procure food from local markets, due to very low incomes, exceptionally high food prices, or the inability to circulate within the country.

Countries with severe localized food insecurity due to the influx of refugees, a concentration of internally displaced persons, or areas with combinations of crop failure and deep poverty.

² Countries facing unfavourable prospects for current crops are countries where prospects point to a shortfall in production of current crops as a result of a reduction of the area planted and/or adverse weather conditions, plant pests, diseases and other calamities which indicate a need for close monitoring of the crops for the remainder of the growing season.