Crop Prospects and Food Situation #2, May 2010
06/05/2010
FAO’s first forecast for world cereal production in 2010 is 2 286 million tonnes, 1.5 percent up from last year and similar to the record level of 2008. However, with some major crops yet to be planted, much will depend on climatic conditions in the coming months. In Low-Income Food-Deficit countries, early prospects for the 2010 crops are mixed. In Southern Africa, smaller maize outputs are anticipated in several countries. In Far East Asia, the impact of dry weather during the winter season was mitigated by adequate irrigation supplies and good wheat and first season rice crops are being gathered. International cereal prices have declined in the past months and are below their levels of a year ago reflecting ample cereal supplies in 2009/10 and prospects for large crops in 2010.
Cereal supply and demand balances for sub-Saharan African countries - No.2, April 2010
22/04/2010
The FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance System (CCBS) is a database of annual supply and utilization balances for main cereals, covering all countries of the world. It has been maintained by FAO/GIEWS since 1980 and is updated on a continual basis. This statistical report, which is a subset of CCBS data, presents the current-year cereal supply and demand balances for all sub-Saharan African countries, highlighting cereal import and food aid requirements of each country. This report is complement ary to the FAO/GIEWS report Crop Prospects and Food Situation and is published four times a year, with the same schedule.
Rice Market Monitor - April 2010
13/04/2010
Special Report - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Ethiopia - 26 February 2010
26/02/2010
An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission visited Ethiopia from 9 November to 4 December 2009 to estimate the 2009 main meher season cereal and pulse production; review the 2009 secondary belg season harvests; forecast the 2010 belg season production; and assess the overall food supply situation for the 2010 marketing year (January/December). Accompanied by experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), the Central Statistics Authority (CSA) and by observers from USAID/FEWSNet and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (EC-JRC), the Mission mobilized seven teams and visited, over an 18-day period, 62 zones and special woredas (districts) covering all the grain producing regions and the marginal areas.
Informe Especial - Misión FAO/PMA de Evaluación de Cosecha y Seguridad Alimentaria en Guatemala
23/02/2010
La Misión conjunta FAO/PMA de Evaluación de Cosecha y Seguridad Alimentaría (CFSAM) visitó Guatemala desde el 3 hasta el 23 de noviembre de 2009. La Misión tuvo como objetivo la evaluación de la producción de los granos básicos (maíz, fríjol y arroz), localmente afectados por eventos climáticos adversos en las áreas denominadas del corredor seco sobre todo en la Región Oriente del país.
Special Report - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Southern Sudan - 17 February 2010
17/02/2010
An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited Southern Sudan from 19 October to 14 November 2009 to estimate cereal production and assess the overall food-security situation. The Mission included representatives from the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF), the Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC), FEWSNet, FAO and WFP.
Crop Prospects and Food Situation #1, February 2010
11/02/2010
Latest information confirms a further improvement in global cereal supply situation in the current 2009/10 marketing year. Another aboveaverage production in 2009 should exceed consumption by a significant margin and total cereal inventories are forecast to climb to an 8-year high. In several Sahelian and Eastern Africa countries, however, cereal and pasture production declined sharply and a difficult food security situation is anticipated this year in parts of Niger, Chad and northern Nigeria. Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist populations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea, also face food difficulties due to successive seasons of poor rains. In Haiti, the food security situation has worsened dramatically following the earthquake on 12th January, despite a generally good food production in 2009. Food assistance is being provided to 2 million people. Provision of agricultural inputs for the next main planting from March is urgently needed. Overall, food emergencies currently affect 33 countries around the world.
Cereal supply and demand balances for sub-Saharan African countries - No.1, January 2010
29/01/2010
The FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance System (CCBS) is a database of annual supply and utilization balances for main cereals, covering all countries of the world. It has been maintained by FAO/GIEWS since 1980 and is updated on a continual basis. This statistical report, which is a subset of CCBS data, presents the current-year cereal supply and demand balances for all sub-Saharan African countries, highlighting cereal import and food aid requirements of each country. This report is complement ary to the FAO/GIEWS report Crop Prospects and Food Situation and is published four times a year, with the same schedule.
GIEWS Updates - Volume 2010
27/01/2010
The GIEWS Updates are issued by FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) from mid-2004. The updates focus on developing anomalous conditions aimed at providing early warnings, as well as latest and more elaborate information than other GIEWS regular reports on the food security situation of countries, at both national and sub-national levels.
Price surges in food markets
01/01/2010
The drastic increase of food prices in the period 2006-2008 spurred fears of global food insecurity. Apart from actual changes in supply and demand of some commodities, the upward swing might also have been amplified by speculation in organized futures markets. However, limiting or banning speculative trading might do more harm than good.
Guide For Decision Makers
01/01/2010
This guide draws on the lessons learned in the framework of the project “Increasing incomes and food security of small farmers in West and Central Africa through exports of organic and fair-trade tropical products, implemented by FAO in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone from September 2005 to September 2009, with funds provided by the German Government. For more information on this project, consult its website at . This guide was developed for farmer organizations and companies wishing to export organic and fair-trade certified products, as well as for organizations providing them with support services.
Special Report - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Yemen
09/12/2009
An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission visited Yemen from 3 to 17 October 2009 to estimate the 2009 main season cereal production and assess the overall food security situation for the 2010 marketing year (January/December). The Mission included two experts from the FAO Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division of the Technical Cooperation Department (TCES) that drafted emergency agricultural rehabilitation projects as inputs in the 2010 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.
Rice Market Monitor - December 2009
08/12/2009
Food Outlook - December 2009
02/12/2009
Recent developments in world agricultural markets for basic food commodities have raised concern about a possible return to another round of high prices. In general, however, the difficulties facing markets today are different from those experienced during the 2007/08 food price surge. The FAO Food Price Index, a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a food basket composed of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, has risen uninterruptedly since August 2009, a trend shared by nearly all its components. In November the index averaged 168 points, the highest since September 2008, although still 21 percent below its peak in June 2008. Prior to the price spike of 2007/08, the index never exceeded 120 points and, for most of the time, was below 100 points.
Special Report - FAO Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Tajikistan
22/10/2009
An FAO Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), was conducted in Tajikistan from 7-24 July 2009, following a request from the Government to assess the food situation in the country. The Mission was to estimate the 2009 main season (winter and spring) cereal production and forecast the secondary (summer) season cereal crops; assess the overall food supply situation; and estimate cereal import requirements for the 2009/10 marketing year (July/June).
Cereal supply and demand balances for sub-Saharan African countries - No.4, October 2009
08/10/2009
The FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance System (CCBS) is a database of annual supply and utilization balances for main cereals, covering all countries of the world. It has been maintained by FAO/GIEWS since 1980 and is updated on a continual basis. This statistical report, which is a subset of CCBS data, presents the current-year cereal supply and demand balances for all sub-Saharan African countries, highlighting cereal import and food aid requirements of each country. This report is complement ary to the FAO/GIEWS report Crop Prospects and Food Situation and is published four times a year, with the same schedule.
Rice Market Monitor - September 2009
11/09/2009
Crop Prospects and Food Situation #4, November 2009
10/09/2009
FAO’s latest forecast confirms a good 2009 world cereal production, slightly below last year’s record level, which coupled with large carryover stocks from the previous season have resulted in ample market supplies. In the group of 77 Low-Income Food-Deficit countries the 2009 aggregate cereal production is forecast marginally below last year’s record level. A sharp reduction in India’s rice crop is anticipated but generally good crops are estimated elsewhere. International prices of wheat and maize, which had returned to normal levels by September, strengthened in October. Rice export prices continued to decline from the 2008 peak but remain well above pre-crisis levels. In LIFDCs food prices remain, in general, significantly higher than in the pre-food price crisis period of two years earlier, which continues to give rise to concern for the food security of vulnerable populations.
Rapport Spécial - Mission FAO/PAM D'Évaluation de la Sécurité Alimentaire a Madagascar
20/08/2009
C’est dans ce contexte qu’une évaluation conjointe de la situation alimentaire du pays a été organisée par le PAM et la FAO. L’évaluation qui a mis l’accent sur la situation alimentaire et les perspectives au sud de l’Ile s’est déroulée en deux phases importantes. Premièrement, une équipe conjointe FAO/PAM a visité le pays du 22 mai au 7 juin 2009. Cette mission a eu des réunions dans la capitale Antanarivo, a formé les enquêteurs pour l’enquête de ménages qui a couvert en plus de la zone sud, certains districts de l’est et des grandes zones de production rizicole au nord et au centre (deuxième phase) et visité la partie sud du pays qui fait face à des problèmes sérieux d’insécurité alimentaire suite à plusieurs années de sécheresse. A Antananarivo, les réunions et séances d’information avec divers organismes gouvernementaux et internationaux ainsi qu’avec des organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) locales et internationales ont permis d’évaluer la situation générale des approvisionnements alimentaires dans le pays et de recueillir des rapports et des statistiques utiles. La mission s’est ensuite rendue dans les régions d’Ambovombe, et Amboasary au Sud du pays où, sur le terrain, les discussions ont eu lieu avec le personnel des organismes nationaux et régionaux, les techniciens de terrain, les agriculteurs, les négociants ainsi que les chefs des communautés. La mission s’est rendue dans les champs afin d’évaluer les dégâts sur les cultures et sur les marchés pour vérifier la disponibilité et les prix des produits agricoles. La mission a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec le Système d’Alerte Précoce (SAP).
Special Report - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Ethiopia (Phase 2) - 27 July 2009
27/07/2009
The FAO together with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), the Bureaux of Agriculture and Rural Development (BoARD) and the Central Statistical Agency (CSA), participated in the 2008/09 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) from 16 November to 12 December 2008. The assessment concentrated on aggregate crop production and macroeconomic issues and also analyzed the resultant cereal supply/demand. The Meher needs assessment led by Disaster Management and Food Security Sector (DMFSS) together with other partners, including WFP, was conducted from 17 November to 12 December 2008 and concentrated on the assessment of emergency food and non-food needs, at the micro/household level. Hence, this report represents a synthesis of the main results and recommendations of the two assessments carried out towards the end of last year with some updates due to the availability of new information.