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Overview
In East Africa, there is concern for Belg season cereals in much of Ethiopia and for main season cereals in parts of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and the United Republic of Tanzania due to a poor start to the seasonal rains. In West Africa, land preparation and planting of main season cereals are ramping up along the south, and agro-climatic conditions are favourable as rains received in March are supporting planting and germination. Across the Middle East & North Africa, a poor start to the seasonal rains significantly hindered crop development. Despite recent rainfall improvements, yields are expected to be below-average in parts of Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. In Southern Africa, midseason rainfall improvements have significantly benefitted ongoing crop development, except in southern Angola, northern Malawi, and northern Madagascar where dry concerns remain and parts of Mozambique and southern Madagascar where storm impacts may reduce yields. In Central & South Asia, conditions remain mostly favourable for winter wheat development, except in rainfed areas of eastern Pakistan impacted by drought. Conditions remain favourable for spring wheat planting in Afghanistan. In Southeast Asia, harvesting of wet-season rice continues in the south while development of dry-season rice continues in the north, and conditions are generally favourable except in Brunei where recent heavy rains disrupted harvesting activities. In Central America & the Caribbean, planting for the Primera season will commence in April. In Cuba, recurring blackouts in March may have hampered agricultural activities.