WINDHOEK - President Hifikepunye Pohamba last Friday declared a national emergency due to the devastating drought that has already killed 4 000 large and small stock.

The current nationwide drought has also affected over 300 000 people classified as food insecure. "Our country is experiencing the wrath of mother nature in the form of a devastating drought," Pohamba said during a press conference on Friday in Windhoek. Pohamba elaborated that unlike the floods in the north and northeastern parts of the country in 2011, the drought this year is affecting the entire country.

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

(Extract)

Wheat and rice prices mostly fall around the region

Strong production generally kept domestic prices around the region stable or drove them slightly down for wheat, wheat flour and rice, except in India and Myanmar where government procurement programmes pushed prices higher. Overall, however, prices were mostly higher than at the same time last year, according to FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS).

Hawassa May 18/2013 More than 1.1 million needy farmers embraced in food security program in Amhara State have ensured food security, the regional disaster prevention and food security program coordination office said. Office Head, Sileshi Temesgen said at a relevant discussion forum held in Bahirdar Town of the State on Friday that the beneficiaries have managed to produce surplus. Sileshi said the farmers are engaged in soil and water conservation, road construction, irrigation development, animal husbandry and fattening, among others.

Several thousand hectares of planted area are thought to be inundated by flooding, displacing between 1,000 and 1,500 households, and isolating several villages.

By Maurice Geary, Logistics Advisor, Concern Worldwide

When the rains came in Zambezia Province in central Mozambique, people collected their belongings and left their traditionally built homes behind to head for higher ground. They resettled in scattered pockets, often under very basic shelters constructed from palm leaves held up by stick frames.

The Zimbabwean government is worried by the high malnutrition-related death rate which currently accounts for 25 percent of deaths among children under the age of five, said President Robert Mugabe at the launch of The Zimbabwe Food and Nutrition Security Policy in Harare yesterday.

In the month of April 20132, the Gu (April – June) rains were heavy in the 1st dekad, but slightly declined in the 2nd and 3rd dekads across Somalia. Significantly above average rainfall has been recorded in some stations in Togdheer, Sool, W. Galbeed, Mudug, Bay, Gedo, Hiran and the Shabelle’s (Map 1 and Table 1). Enhanced rainfall in Somalia and in Ethiopian highlands, in the first dekad of April increased river flows along the two rivers and subsequently led to floods in Middle Shabelle (Jowhar and Wanlaweyn) and Lower Shabelle (Kurtunwarey and Balad). In Jowhar, the river

Intense seasonal Gu rains have led to flooding, damaged an estimated 6,397 hectares of crops and displaced about 50,000 people in the Country. Strong rains in the Ethiopian highlands led to worrying increases in water levels along the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Flash floods were reported in Baidoa and Jowhar areas.