Drought in southern Africa has “significantly dampened production prospects, with severe negative implications for food security in the sub-region,” says the FAO’s quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
FAO says 27 of the 34 nations in need of food aid are in Africa. “Adverse weather reduced 2015 cereal output, resulting in a significant increase in the number of food-insecure people in several countries, with conflicts further affecting food security and the agriculture sector in parts.”
Conditions in southern Africa worsened in the past three months and food prices have zoomed to record levels, said FAO. In parts of Central America and the Caribbean, dry weather associated with the El Niño weather pattern may affect plantings of main-season crops for the third year in a row, it said.
In North Korea, “most households were already estimated to have borderline or poor food consumption,” said FAO, because of a small crop last year.