FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Further reduction in wheat production is forecast in line with Government’s policy

• Cereal imports forecast at high levels in 2012/13

Hopper bands in Israel for the first time in 50 years; adult groups in interior of Saudi Arabia

As a result of egg-laying in mid-March and low temperatures, hatching occurred from mid-April onwards in the western Negev Desert of Israel and in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt where hoppers are now forming groups and bands in both areas.

RIYADH, May 6 (KUNA) -- Twenty-five people were killed and three still missing due to recent heavy rains and floods in Saudi Arabia, Director General of Civil Defense Saad Al-Tuwaijri said in a statement on Monday.

Al-Tuwaijri said nine of those killed were in Riyadh Region, seven in Al-Taef province, six in Al-Baha, two in Asseer Region, and one in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah Region, while three still missing, two in Al-Baha valleys and one in Hail Region.

IOM is appealing for US$6m from donors as its Migrant Response Centre at Obock is struggling to cope with increased numbers of stranded migrants from Ethiopia asking for transport assistance to return home.

05/01/2013 16:40 GMT

RIYADH, May 01, 2013 (AFP) - Sixteen people have died and three more are missing in Saudi Arabia after downpours caused flash floods in several areas of the desert kingdom, the civil defence authorities said on Wednesday.

Two others died in flash floods in neighbouring Oman, local media reported, as cloudbursts swept across most Gulf countries.

The official Saudi SPA state news agency quoted a civil defence statement as saying people died in several areas including in the capital Riyadh, Baha in the south, Hail in the north and in the west.

AQABA, 29 April 2013 (IRIN) - Prevention may be better than a cure, but for the authorities in Arab cities and towns, natural disasters up to now have been largely about coping with them after they have taken place.

"We react to disasters without any planning; we just go for the response, and you know that without any planning you can't do the proper things," Abdulmalek Al-Jolahy, first deputy minister at Yemen's Ministry of Public Works and Highways, told IRIN.

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Djibouti

New Arrivals: In March 2013, an estimated 8,568 migrants arrived on Yemen’s shores via Djibouti, a 12% increase from February. Numbers of Ethiopians crossing the Red sea in March 2013 were 40% more than those who crossed in January. A total of 21,658 migrants crossed into Yemen via the Red Sea in the first quarter of 2013, 16% less than the first quarter of 2012. 90% of the first quarter totals crossing from Djibouti were Ethiopian. The rest were Somali.

Hopper bands continue to form along the Nile River in Sudan

The Desert Locust situation continues to be serious in northern Sudan where a few groups of adults are still laying eggs, hatching is in progress and hoppers are forming small bands near crops along a 1,000 km stretch of the Nile Valley between Wadi Halfa and Ed Damer. Survey and control operations are in progress against mainly second instar hopper bands to prevent new swarms from forming in May.

Hoppers hatching and forming bands along Nile River in Sudan

The Desert Locust situation continues to remain serious in the Central Region. Hopper bands and swarms continued to form in the winter breeding areas along both sides of the Red Sea during March. Locust numbers declined after mid-March due to control operations, dry vegetation and migration to the Nile Valley in Sudan and Egypt, and northwards to the Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.