Favorable food security conditions expected to prevail across the region
KEY MESSAGES
• Increased food supplies from ongoing harvests continue to improve food access among poor households. Most rural farming households are accessing food from own produced stocks and supplementing this with food from purchases and through in-kind labor exchanges. Minimal (IPC Phase 1) food acute food insecurity outcomes are projected through September, with the exception of a few localized areas.
• Tradable national and regional cereal supplies are projected to be tighter in the 2013/14 marketing season due to localized production challenges and generally lower carry-over stocks. Improved household food stocks and adequate supplies on local markets are contributing to declining price trends.
• However, given that staple food prices have remained higher than their respective 2012 and five-year average levels, food access for poorer households is likely to be constrained earlier than the normal October start of the lean season, especially in localized areas that experienced production shortfalls.
• The results of ongoing vulnerability and food security assessments are expected in mid-July and will identify the populations at risk of food insecurity during the 2013/14 consumption period and the level and type of assistance that will be required.