Key highlights from the FSNWG meeting held on October 18, 2012 (FSNWG, 18/10/12)
The seasonal harvests have reached both households and markets in the region improving food availability and access. This has caused a decrease in staple food prices and an increase in food security. Between July and August 2012, grain prices declined in the majority of regional markets in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan. However, stressed and crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 2 & 3) persists in many areas.
In Sudan, the harvest of the 2012 sorghum and millet crops is expected to start from late October with favourable production prospects. Cereal production is projected at 5.2 million metric tonnes, which is well above last year’s drought affected season and about 15% above the 5-year average.
The forecast for normal to above normal seasonal rainfall for November – December 2012 in eastern Africa is confirmed as a result of both the moderate El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) anomaly and the favourable conditions in the Indian Ocean.
Civil insecurity persists in eastern DRC (North Kivu) with over 260,000 people displaced in the past months and 70,000 Congolese are estimated to have fled into Rwanda and Uganda. While the seasonal national IPC analysis is on-going, the food security situation is expected to remain critical.
The seasonal flooding affecting six states in the Republic of South Sudan is expected to significantly impact the performance of crops and livestock due to reduced production, availability of pasture and forced abnormal migration.