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Background
• In 2023, the agriculture sector contributed USD 8 billion, representing 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which employs over 80 percent of the population and provides the bulk of rural households’ income across all regions.
• The 2023/24 cropping season was characterized by a delayed onset of rains, inadequate cumulative rainfall quantities and prolonged dry spells due to El Niño conditions. The dry spells ultimately resulted in the declaration of a state of disaster in 23 districts across the country.
• Spatial distribution of the actual recorded rainfall amounts shows that most parts of the southern and some parts of the central region received normal to below normal rainfall during the period 1 October 2023 to 20 February 2024 (Figure 1). The rainfall distribution affected crop performance, and all surveyed districts experienced prolonged dry spells in January and February 2024 that lasted for four weeks in most districts, particularly in the south.