FAO/GIEWS quarterly report Crop Propects and Food Situation
FAO/GIEWS has released the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation quarterly report that focuses on developments affecting the food situation of developing countries and Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries. The report also includes an overview of global cereal production prospects and a table highlighting countries that require external assistance for food, identifying the primary causes of the local food crises.
HIGHLIGHTS
Counties requiring external assistance for food: FAO estimates that 37 countries are in need of external assistance for food in the world. Persisting conflicts have continued to acutely affect agricultural production and food security conditions. Weather shocks, including floods, hurricanes and droughts, have compounded the fragile conditions in some of the conflict-affected countries and also resulted in production shortfalls, adversely impacting food availability and access in other countries.
Africa: Northern Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan continue to be affected by severe food insecurity, while drought in parts of East Africa has curbed agricultural outputs and sustained high food prices. Wetter conditions in Southern Africa resulted in production recoveries, leading to significantly reduced food insecure numbers, while severe localized floods in West Africa have affected larger numbers of people.
Asia: Despite severe localized floods and droughts in some countries, production in the Far East is forecast to increase in 2017. Conflicts continue to intensely impact agriculture and food security in Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. Elsewhere in the Near East, generally good weather boosted production.
Latin America and the Caribbean: In the Caribbean, the impact of hurricanes is expected to depress agricultural production for second season crops in the affected areas and adversely impact food security conditions. In South America, record cereal outputs are forecast in Argentina and Brazil in 2017.
Please download the full report here: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7830e.pdf.