Attachments
Summary
Our monthly Food Security Monitor is one way AGRA makes data available to key stakeholders to underpin evidence- based decision-making. Highlights from March 2024 Food Security Monitor are summarised below:
Food Security Updates
Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe have declared state of disaster over the impact of the prolonged El Niño driven ry spell and heat wave which had hit most of Southern Africa. In Zambia, the El Niño driven drought has impacted 86 out of the country’s 116 districts, affecting more than a million farming households translating into 6.6 million people. In Malawi, the El Niño induced conditions such as inadequate rains, floods, and prolonged dry spells have also led to severe crops damage and affected food production in 23 of the 28 districts impacting at least 2 million households. Zimbabwe has also reported that the El Niño-induced drought has resulted in more than 80% of the country receiving below normal rainfall and damaging 12% of planted farmland corn. In Eastern Africa, despite improved supplies of food from major producers such as Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, food and nutrition security concerns remain driven by conflict, inflation, disease outbreaks and poor access to nutritious diets and safe water. Overall, 58.2 million people in Eastern Africa are food-insecure, with hotspot countries being DRC (23.4 million), Sudan (17.7 million), Ethiopia (15.8 million), and South Sudan (5.7 million), according to the latest (March 2024) Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG) situation in East Africa report. In West Africa, high food insecurity remains a concern with the Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger) and Nigeria being the main hotspots. As of 31st March 2024, 158.5 million people across seven selected West African countries had insufficient food for consumption, an increase of 300,000 people over the previous month’s level. Global cereal prices remain generally low with a fall in the International Grain Council’s (IGC) Grain and Oil Index (GOI) by 20% as well as a fall in sub-indices such as wheat, maize, and barley, except rice, compared to a year ago. However, compared to February, both the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) and GOI in March show a low decline of 1.1% and 1.9% respectively.
Food Trade Updates
• The African Union has adopted the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade as well as Protocols on Investment and on Digital Trade. • The Afreximbank officially launched the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) in Kigali, on March 20 2024, to tackle Africa’s $110 billion financing gap for intra-African trade, value-added export development, and industrialization value chains. Rwanda became the first among 15 African nations to ratify its establishment agreement and is now hosting the $1 billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund managed by FEDA.
Food Commodity Prices Updates
In East Africa, cereal prices are generally lower than they were in the past 1-12 months in most countries due to increased supplies from December/January harvests. However, the price of wheat remains generally elevated compared to similar periods. In Southern Africa, the prices of monitored commodities (maize and rice) remain overall elevated above previous 1-12 months levels. However, maize prices in Malawi and Mozambique show decline against the past 1 month as new harvests (particularly green harvests) begin to trickle-in. Also, the price of rice in all selected markets of Mozambique and some markets in Malawi remain unchanged against the previous month’s level. In West Africa, the prices of select food commodities remained largely elevated. However, the prices of maize and rice remain largely lower in Ghana, while Togo has also registered lower prices for sorghum, compared to the past 1-12 months.