Attachments
FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
Weather conditions forecast favourable for planting and development of 2020 main season maize crop
Cereal production in 2019 estimated at below‑average level
Cereal imports forecast at high levels in 2019/20 marketing year
Prices of food items soared in April
About 1.2 million people forecast severely food insecure from March to June 2020
Weather conditions forecast favourable for planting and development of 2020 main season maize crop
Planting of the 2020 main season maize crop is expected to start from late May with the onset of the rainy season. Precipitation amounts are forecast at average to above-average levels in the May-July period across the country and are expected to be favourable for planting operations and crop development. As an effort to boost domestic production, the Government plans to distribute vouchers to 190 000 smallholder farmers to be used for the purchase of agricultural inputs for the main season maize, bean and rice crops. In addition, the Government plans to build rainwater harvesting systems and wells to strengthen resilience of areas prone to dry weather conditions.
Cereal production in 2019 estimated at below-average level
The 2019 cereal output is estimated at 614 000 tonnes, more than 10 percent lower than the previous five-year average due to drought conditions that affected the main season maize crop from June to August 2019, during the critical flowering and grain-filling stages. According to the Dirección de Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria (DICTA), both rainfed and irrigated crops in key producing departments of Francisco Morazán, Olancho and El Paraíso were severely affected by rainfall deficits. A large number of livestock died due to forage and water deficits in the department of Olancho.