Synopsis (short abstract)
The annual FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) was conducted from 3 to 16 December 2024 to estimate the cereal production during 2024 and assess the overall food security situation in the country. The 2024 net cereal production is estimated at about 1 123 000 tonnes, over 10 percent higher than the 2023 output and 25 percent above the average of the previous five years. Cereal production benefited from overall favourable weather conditions, limited flood-related damage to standing crops and a slight increase in planted area compared to the previous year due to improved security conditions. Despite the good performance of the 2024 cropping season, the cereal deficits remain significant, representing about one-quarter of the domestic cereal requirements, and the food security situation remains dire, with about 7.7 million people (57 percent of the total population) estimated to face IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or worse levels of acute food insecurity during the lean season between April and July 2025. The main drivers of food insecurity are protracted macroeconomic challenges resulting in high inflation and soaring food prices, insufficient food supply, the lingering impact on livelihoods of consecutive years with widespread floods, episodes of intercommunal violence and a sustained influx of returnees from the war-affected Sudan.