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Overview:
In East Africa, planting of Belg season maize is underway in Ethiopia, and planting of main season cereals is underway in the south of the region. Conditions are generally favourable except in areas experiencing delayed rainfall onset, including in much of Ethiopia and southwestern Uganda. In West Africa, harvesting of both main and second season cereals mostly finalized in January under favourable conditions, with the exception of conflict-affected regions. In the Middle East and North Africa, dry conditions since the beginning of the season have impacted wheat development in most west and central areas of North Africa, and poor conditions have resulted in Morocco and Algeria. Conversely, good rainfall outcomes have generally benefitted crop biomass in the Middle East. In Southern Africa, conditions remain mixed as El Niño-induced dry and hot weather continues to degrade cropping prospects, and a severe dry spell in February across many areas has recently led to poor conditions in parts of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. In Central and South Asia, Winter Wheat continues to develop under mixed conditions with prevailing dry concerns in most areas despite El Niño typically being associated with above-average precipitation for the region. In Southeast Asia, conditions are mostly favourable for wet-season rice in the south and dry-season rice in the north, except in Thailand and the Philippines where extremely low precipitation has resulted in drought damage. In Central America and the Caribbean, end of season conditions were mixed for Segunda/Postrera season cereals as yields in smallholder and subsistence producing areas were impacted by erratic rains and high temperatures. In Haiti, dry and hot weather continue to impact Hiver season bean crops, though recent enhanced rainfall may improve yield prospects