HIGHLIGHTS

• Tropical Cyclone Mahasen is due to make landfall in Bangladesh, near the Burma border, on May 16 with winds of up to 63 miles per hour

• The storm has already caused 7 deaths and displaced 115,000 people in Sri Lanka as it tracked near the country

• Humanitarian preparedness activities are underway in Bangladesh and Burma, including pre-positioning of relief supplies and evacuation of populations residing in areas at high risk of severe storm impact

Global Highlights

• The global cereal price index increased by 8.8% on a year-on-year basis in the January-March 2013 quarter.This increase is driven by increases in real prices of maize and wheat (+8% and +13%, respectively).

HIGHLIGHTS

• The humanitarian response strategy JPA 2012 was reviewed and closed.

• The Government appreciated the good collaboration of the humanitarian community and the donors in resettling over 400,000 persons within three years.

• The humanitarian community stressed the importance of conducting multi-sectoral needs assessments to extend support to the most vulnerable when needs arise.

• Floods affected large part of the island in January.

In focus

• Recent or ongoing harvests are generally contributing to greater food security in most parts of East Africa, West Africa, Central America and Asia while food insecurity levels are reaching their annual peak in Southern Africa.

I. SITUATION OVERVIEW & HIGHLIGHTS

Returns and displacement

By the end of December 2012, 467,533 people (140,725 families) had returned to the Northern Province. This figure includes 267,865 people (80,292 families) displaced after April 2008 and 199,668 people (55,273 families) displaced before April 2008 1 .

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Heavy rains cause some localized flooding early in the 2012/13 cropping season
• Near-record cereal harvest estimated in 2012
• Prices of rice and wheat continue to gain strength
• Overall food security situation has improved but localised food insecurity persist

Typhoon Bopha hits Philippines banana harvest hard

About one quarter of the banana crop in the Philippines, a major food export for that country, has been destroyed by Typhoon Bopha, according to early damage assessments. Furthermore, banana growers fear the storm may have served to spread “Panama Disease,” which has been described by some researchers as “one of the most destructive plant diseases in modern times.”

Drought conditions are persisting in the seven districts targeted by the Appeal. Many people in remote rural areas are still having difficulties accessing safe drinking water

China’s wheat imports hit seven-year high

Despite its position as the world’s largest wheat producer, China’s imports of wheat hit a seven-year high for the first nine months of 2012, reaching 3.21 million tonnes, according to official statistics, reported the Daily Times newspaper.