High temperature and inadequate rainfall are adversely affecting crop development in southern Africa, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. They result may be poor yields and heavier than usual infestations of the fall armyworm, which spreads in dry weather.
In a special alert, the FAO said small harvests are “foreseen to intensify food insecurity in 2018, increasing the number of people in need of assistance.” Corn production set records last year in a recovery from El Nino droughts of 2016, so cereal stocks are ample at the moment. At the household level, however, many small farmers and rural families are still recovering from losses in the drought.
A quarterly FAO report on the global food situation says many rural households in eastern Africa have seen four years of drought in a row. The harvest in 2017 was somewhat smaller than in 2016. The recently concluded second-crop season produced below-average crops in southeastern Kenya, northeastern Tanzania and southern Somalia. “Drought conditions in parts of Ethiopia and Somalia have eased, but not enough to fully offset accumulated deficits in soil moisture,” said the FAO.
Overall, 37 countries need food aid, said the FAO report. In 16 of them, civil war is a direct factor in food shortages. From Burundi to Yemen, armed conflict has displaced millions of people, interrupted agricultural work and driven up food prices.