HIGHLIGHTS

• Madagascar:

The first round of presidential election is currently scheduled to be held on 24 July 2013. No decision yet on whether it will be postponed or not.

• Namibia:

On 17 May 2013 the President declared a national drought emergency and called for assistance from international community. An estimated 330,925 people have now been classified as food insecure - 14 percent of Namibia's 2,324 million people (total population)

Heavy rains were observed in western Ethiopia, western South Sudan and Nigeria during the past week.

1) Poorly distributed and significantly below average seasonal rainfall has resulted in deteriorating ground conditions since January. This has negatively impacted crops and livestock throughout many parts of southern Angola and northern Namibia.

Heavy, torrential rain fell over many parts of western Ethiopia, South Sudan, southern Somalia, Kenya and Uganda.

1) Poorly distributed and significantly below average seasonal rainfall has resulted in deteriorating ground conditions since January. This has negatively impacted crops and livestock throughout many parts of southern Angola and northern Namibia.

1) Poorly distributed and significantly below average seasonal rainfall has resulted in deteriorating ground conditions since January. This has negatively impacted crops and livestock throughout many parts of southern Angola and northern Namibia.

2) Little to no rainfall since the second dekad of March has been received across portions of eastern Angola, and western Zambia. Late season moisture deficits indicate an early departure of the southern Africa monsoon in the region and may affect crops planted late in the season.

1) Since the beginning of the year, poorly distributed and significantly below average seasonal rainfall has led to deteriorating ground conditions, stressed vegetation and negatively impacted cropping activities and livestock throughout many parts of southwestern Africa. Many local areas in Angola and Namibia have experienced less than half of their normal rainfall accumulation since January.

Poorly distributed, below-average seasonal rainfall has led to deteriorating ground conditions, stressed vegetation and a negative impact on cropping activities.

1) Since the beginning of the year, several consecutive weeks of below-average rainfall has worsened ground conditions and negatively impacted cropping activities and livestock throughout northern Namibia and southern Angola. Many local areas have experienced less than half of their normal rainfall accumulation since January. With little to no precipitation forecast in the region during the upcoming outlook period, not much relief can be expected as the seasonal rains weaken during March.

1) Heavy rain, during the past several weeks, has led to flooding, displacement of local population and cholera outbreaks in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. Locally heavy rains are forecast across parts of Zambia, Malawi and northern Mozambique for a sixth consecutive week. With above-average ground moisture in place, the risk for flooding in the region remains high.