FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
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Agricultural production hampered by civil strife in 2011.
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Humanitarian assistance is still needed despite the improved civil security situation
Civil strife hampered agricultural production
Harvesting of the 2011 second season maize crop is nearly complete in the South. In the North, which has only one rainy season, harvesting of coarse grains was completed in December. In spite of adequate rains during the cropping season, no significant recovery in production is expected due to the impact of last year’s political crisis on area planted and yields. Official preliminary estimates indicate that cereal production declined slightly in 2011, over previous year’s level of 1.49 million tonnes, to about 1.44 million tonnes.
Agriculture has been seriously damaged in recent years due to the civil strife. The problems are particularly related to the shortage of labour due to population displacements, the lack of agricultural support services in certain parts of the country - mainly in the northern half –, the fragmentation of the markets and other difficulties related to civil security. These problems have been exacerbated by last year’s post-election crisis, which has forced over 200 000 people to leave the country and seek refuge, mostly in eastern Liberia while thousands others were internally displaced. Most displaced persons have returned to their areas of origin, following the improvement of the security situation. However, UNHCR estimated that about 250 000 Ivorian remained internally displaced while about 138 000 were still living in Liberia as of October 2011.