SADC REGIONAL SUMMARY
Seasonal rainfall performance so far has been good for most parts of the SADC region except for Tanzania where the Vuli (short rains) season failed and the start of the main season has been delayed. However, dry spells have also been experienced in parts of Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland. Similar but less serious conditions have occurred in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The climate outlook for February, March and April continues to look favorable for most parts of the region except for Tanzania.
Problems of access to inputs have been experienced in a number of countries but are slightly more serious in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Lesotho. Limited availability and high prices have prevented access to improved seeds, fertilizers and hiring of tractors by smallholder farmers.
Current assessments indicate that the area planted to crops may be higher than last season in most countries except South Africa, where preliminary estimates indicate that commercial farmers have reduced maize plantings by almost 50%.
As a result of the reduced area planted to maize in South Africa, which normally produces half of the region's maize output, the overall SADC maize production for the current season may end up lower than last season's output of 20.66 million tonnes. This may happen in spite of the expected increase in maize output in the other Member States except Tanzania where the rainfall situation has been unfavourable.
The current food security situation remains poor in most Member States with the number of households running out of food continuing to increase as the region enters its lean period before the next main harvest. The most severely affected Member States are Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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