|
Conflicts push acute food insecurity higher
08.03.2024 15:20 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Conflicts and adverse weather are exacerbating hunger in the 45 countries around the world assessed to need external assistance for food, according to the latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, a triannual publication by FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) also published today. «Conflicts in Near East Asia and in West and East Africa are driving alarmingly high levels of the most severe phase of acute food insecurity,» the report said, with very high concerns for the situation of the entire population of the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Widespread dry weather conditions are expected to aggravate food insecurity in Southern Africa. Although aggregate cereal production is expected to grow modestly in 2024 among the 44 Low-Income Food Deficit Countries, low outputs gathered in 2023 and tightening inventories have pushed up import needs for several sub-Saharan countries. Harvesting of 2024 cereal crops will begin in April in Southern Africa, where widespread and prolonged rainfall deficits associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon have sharply curtailed production prospects. Key cropping zones in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe received less than 80 percent of average rainfall since last November, pointing to an increased need for cereal imports by these countries in the forthcoming 2024/2025 marketing year.
Also available:
|
| |
|
|