HIGHLIGHTS
- New data by the Secretariat of Food Security and Nutrition (SESAN) has increased the caseload from 34,158 households to 47,196 households (approx. 242,490 individuals).
- On October, there have been significant amounts of rainfall in much of the country. INSIVUMEH, reports that landslides could affect the country, especially the western region. Nevertheless, the drought spell between June and August may have had irreversible effects on the harvest due during the 3rd quarter of 2012 (to be confirmed by EFSA results).
- The National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) reports that in the months of July and August 2012, Guatemala was affected by a meteorological drought (a high degree of dryness) which, to date, has affected 18 out of the 22 departments in the country. The drought has ruined half of this year's crops of the two main staples in the affected areas, maize and beans, and early estimates reported by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA) show losses of at least US$10 million.
- According to early analysis by WFP and its partners, the departments most impacted by the drought are Jalapa, El Progreso, Zacapa, Santa Rosa, Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Baja Verapaz, Sololá, Quiché, Suchitepequez, Quetzaltenango, Totonicapan, Retalhuleu, and Huehuetenango.
* Contributions are urgently needed to enable WFP to have an adequate food stock in case an emergency afflicts Guatemala. - The Ministry of Health expects to see a slight increase in acute malnutrition in most parts of the country in the following months.