Reference Date: 18-March-2013
|
FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
-
A record crop was gathered in 2012 and rangelands have recovered well
-
The food supply situation has improved significantly in 2012/13 compared to the previous year
-
However, household assets, saving and the health and nutritional status of the population has been severely eroded following recent successive severe food crises
-
Humanitarian assistance continues to be needed to improve access to food and protect the livelihoods of food insecure and vulnerable people
|
A satisfactory food supply situation expected during the 2012-13 marketing year following a record harvest in 2012
Despite flooding in parts, adequate rainfall, during the main cropping season together with improved distribution of key inputs, has resulted in a favourable cereal harvest in 2012. A joint FAO/CILSS/WFP/FEWSNet Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission that visited the country in October-November 2012, estimated the 2012 aggregate cereals production at over 3.7 million tonnes (including off-season crop harvest forecasts), more than double the 2011 drought-affected output and 81 percent above the average of the past five years.
With the exception of a few localized areas, the rangelands have recovered well and the water points have been replenished.
The improved harvest position, coupled with favourable crop prospects in most neighbouring countries, is expected to lead to much improved food availability during the 2012/13 marketing year (November-October).
Cereal prices exhibit mixed trends
In spite of the good crop gathered, some inter-regional restrictions on commodity movement have reduced the flow between deficit and surplus areas of the country and contributed to higher prices in parts. For example in the capital city Ndjamena, millet prices declined only slightly during the harvest period (September-November) 2012. Although they dropped by 24 percent in January 2013, prices were still above their levels a year earlier. By contrast, in Moundou region in the southern part of the country, millet prices have followed a downward trend since October 2012, and in January they were 24 percent below last year’s levels.
Humanitarian assistance is still needed to improve households’ access to food
This generally favourable food situation nevertheless follows the severe food crisis that struck the country in 2011/12 (similar to 2004/05 and 2009/10). Household assets and savings together with the health and nutritional status of the population have endured a severely adverse long-term impact, while the levels of indebtedness have increased significantly.
Despite the good crop gathered in 2012, several segments of the population still need food and non-food assistance to restore their livelihoods. Implementation of income generation and asset reconstitution activities for food insecure and vulnerable people is recommended.
Moreover, over 300 000 people from the Sudan’s Darfur region and the Central African Republic are located as refugees in southern and eastern regions of Chad.