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The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has released a food security alert for East Africa, citing ongoing drought, uncertain rainfall predictions, and increasing international food prices. Rainfall totals were less than 30 percent of average in certain regions of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya from October-December 2010. This severe water shortage led to a failure of January-February harvests in the region. FEWS NET predicts that as many as five million people in the area will have difficulty meeting basic food and water requirements in the coming months.

Read the full report .

The FAO Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) has released several special alerts since the start of 2011. GIEWS alerts are the result of rapid evaluation missions and give information on countries' crop production, food supply situation at national and sub-national levels, and food aid needs. This regional and country-level information is essential for the international community to respond to crises in the developing world. Recent alerts have covered recent droughts in China and floods in South Africa.

The World Bank has released its Food Price Watch for February, citing estimates that suggest an additional 44 million people may have fallen into poverty in low- and middle-income
countries due to the rise in food prices since June 2010. The overall global rise in food prices has been driven by increases in the prices of wheat, maize, sugar, and fats and oils. (Track the rise in global commodities prices and futures prices with agricultural commodities tools )

The USDA Economic Research Service has released its February 2011 reports for wheat, rice, and soybean outlooks. These reports can help inform policy makers of important current issues involving food security, farming, natural resources, and global markets.

Download the February reports below. For more information regarding the USDA ERS reports, visit http://www.ers.usda.gov/

Files:

Corn_Feb_2011.pdf
Oil_Crops_Feb_2011.pdf
Rice_Feb_2011.pdf
Wheat_Feb_2011.pdf

The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report provides monthly comprehensive forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global crops, supplied by the USDA. Crops covered include wheat, coarse grains, rice, and oilseeds. This report can explain past and current global commodities trends, as well as predict trends for the coming year.

Download the February report below. For more information regarding the WASDE reports, visit http://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/

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