KEY MESSAGES

-November dryness caused a delay in the start of season in many areas across the region.

-Poor rains during the 2011/12 agriculture season and low rainfall in November have resulted in persistent below-average vegetation conditions and reduced water availability.

-Good rains in early December could help reduce moisture deficits.

-Zambia has reported army worm infestations in several provinces and efforts to control the worms and replant crops are underway.

1) Moisture deficits remain following a mid-season dry spell for northern Kenya and southern Somalia that occurred in early November and recent drier than average conditions for much of eastern Africa. With a shortened recovery period in the next several weeks for northern Kenya and southern Somalia and an extended period of dryness for southern Kenya and northeastern Tanzania, this could result in a deterioration of pastoral and agro-pastoral conditions.

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on Botswana that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, Southern African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis.

The research, produced in collaboration with scientists from the countries studied, is based on scenarios from economic global climate change models, and takes into account estimates of each country’s economic and population growth. Each study includes a set of policy recommendations.

On 2-4 May 2012, the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Botswana hosted a SADSEM/DCAF Security, Defence and Gender Training and Education Workshop. The workshop brought together seven Southern African Defence and Security Management (SADSEM) network institutions, DCAF and several local gender resource persons. The eighteen workshop participants initiated a process to review and adjust SADSEM’s training curriculum for their executive short courses on security and defence issues in order to ensure that it incorporates gender issues.

1) Moisture deficits remain following a mid-season dry spell that occurred in early November and recent drier than average conditions. With a shortened recovery period in the next several weeks, this could result in a deterioration of pastoral and agro-pastoral conditions, and possible crop yield reductions by the end of season throughout parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and eastern Tanzania.

1) The return of below-average rainfall during the last week has re-strengthened moisture deficits following a mid-season dry spell that occurred in early November. With a shortened recovery period in the next several weeks, this could result in a deterioration of pastoral and agro-pastoral conditions, and possible crop yield reductions by the end of season throughout parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and eastern Tanzania.

Southern Africa Humanitarian Bulletin: Issue 06 | October 2012

• Locally heavy, above-average amounts of precipitation are expected to continue for portions of Kenya, Tanzania, and the Lake Victoria region during the next seven days.

Outlook Highlights

· Normal to above – normal rainfall is expected over the bulk of SADC Region.

· Above-normal rainfall conditions are expected over northern Tanzania and Madagascar

· Northern DRC, extreme northwestern Angola, south of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, eastern half of Botswana and South Africa are expected to receive normal to belownormal rainfall