Consecutive years of good harvests make for favorable regional food security
Key Messages
• Favorable food security conditions exist across the region with most staple foods being readily available and accessible from both own production and local markets. These conditions are expected to prevail through the outlook period and beyond, especially in areas where crop production has been good due to a favorable agricultural production season.
• Local markets remain adequately stocked with staple foods from current harvests and last year’s carry-over stocks that are still being off-loaded onto the markets to create space for the new harvest. This has resulted in an adequate and stable supply of staple foods and significant price reductions. This drop in food prices has largely benefitted market-dependent households that faced above-normal prices during the lean season that ended in February/March.
• The most likely regional food security outlook, which projects satisfactory conditions through September 2011 as a result of average to above-average cereal harvests across the region, remains valid. Food security conditions continue to improve in most areas as households benefit from recent harvests and declining food prices. These conditions are expected to remain stable until the start of the lean season (October/November).