GIEWS Special Alert – East Africa
Severe dryness at the start of 2019 first rainy season and unfavourable weather forecasts raise food security concerns
23/04/2019
Keywords: Anticipatory action, Climate, Crops, Early Warning, Eastern Africa, Emergency response, Food chain threats, Land, Livestock, Natural hazards, Preparedness, Protracted crises and conflicts, , , , ,
Highlights:
- Severe dryness prevailed in March 2019 and in the first half of April in large parts of Eastern Africa, as the Tropical Cyclone “Idai” redirected precipitations away from the subregion.
- Weather forecasts previously pointed to average to above-average March-May rains, but subsequent updates predicted dry conditions in April and a mixed performance of rains in May depending on the locality.
- The current dry weather conditions are severely affecting pastoral areas, compounding the impact of the poor 2018 October-December rains and raising major food security concerns.
- The severe dry conditions impacted planting and germination of crops in several areas, and crop production is expected at well below-average levels.
- Major areas of concern are northern and eastern Kenya, Somalia, southeastern Ethiopia, Uganda and northeastern United Republic of Tanzania.
- Recurrent climatic shocks have undermined household resilience. Urgent support to agricultural livelihoods is critically needed.
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