FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
In spite of erratic rains at beginning of cropping season, preliminary estimates for 2014 harvest point to an above-average cereal production
High food prices persist in parts
Continued assistance is required to improve access to food and protect livelihoods of food-insecure and vulnerable people, including refugees and returnees
An above-average harvest was gathered in 2014
Harvesting of the 2014 cereal crops was completed in December. Most parts of the country witnessed erratic and below-average rains until mid-July that resulted in replanting in some areas. However, precipitation improved significantly since the last dekad of July over the main producing areas, thus replenishing water reserves, providing relief to stressed crops and improving crop conditions in most parts of the country. As a result, a joint CILSS/FAO/WFP Crop Assessment Mission, which visited the country recently, estimated 2014 aggregate cereal production at some 2.67 million tonnes, slightly above the previous year’s and 9 percent above average. However, the erratic rains affected pasture regeneration and water points’ level in pastoral areas of the country, notably in the Sahelian zone.
The 2013 aggregate cereal production, estimated at some 2.62 million tonnes, was 15 percent above average but 17 percent lower than the previous year’s bumper crop.
