Good cereal harvest and significant food security improvements
KEY MESSAGES
Early findings from the preliminary harvest assessment released by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, corroborated by the joint CILSS/FAO/WFP/FEWS NET/Government mission estimate cereal production at approximately five million metric tons, with a surplus of over 800,000 MT, comparable to the production figure for 2010.
Consults by National Disaster and Food Crisis Prevention and Management Network experts in November of this year resulted in the identification of 185 at-risk areas with an estimated population of 2,483,051 inhabitants, compared with a food-insecure population of 6,005,993 inhabitants at the same in 2011.
According to calculations of kcal equivalents by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, cereals, pulses, and tubers from this season’s harvest should ensure sufficient kcal availability to keep food insecurity at minimal levels (IPC Phase 1) between now and March.
In spite of the nationwide production surplus, certain areas affected by localized shocks saw below-average harvests, particularly in Ayorou, Tillabéri, and Torodi departments where 700,000 people will be unable to meet their food needs as of next January/February without social assistance, compared with the norm of 300,000 to 400,000 people in these areas.