Blog

What's New

Crop Losses in Southern Africa due to Drought and Flooding

Jun 11th, 2019 • by Sara Gustafson

Southern Africa faced widespread drought from the October 2018 to March 2019 rainy season, with less than 55 percent of normal rainfall totals, alerts FEWS. The 2018-2019 rainfall began a month late, triggering extended dry spells between January and March. The historically low rainfall totals affected areas of Botswana, northern Zimbabwe, eastern Namibia, southern Angola, and the surplus producing areas of northern South Africa and southern Zambia, and registered a D3 (Extreme) or a D4 (Exceptional) drought as per the United States Drought Monitor classification scale.

April 2019 FAO Food Price Index and AMIS Market Monitor Report

May 23rd, 2019 • by Sara Gustafson

In April 2019, the FAO Food Price Index rose 1.5 percent from March and reached its second highest level since June 2018. The increase was driven by the slight price increase in meat, dairy, vegetable oils and sugar prices. The index, however, remained 2.3 percent below March 2018 levels.

The Cereal Price Index was down 2.8 percent from March and 5 percent below its April 2018 value. The decline was pressured by large export availabilities and slowing trade.

Urgent Need for Food Aid in North Korea

May 15th, 2019 • by Sara Gustafson

The FAO/WFP Joint Rapid Food Security Assessment was recently released, drawing attention to the increasingly alarming food security situation in North Korea. The country faces food shortages after the worst harvest in 10 years. There is a food deficit of 1.36 million metric tons, and 10.1 million people are experiencing food insecurity.

Early warning: Two Weeks In, U.S. and China Trade Dispute Impacting Agricultural Prices of Soybeans

Jul 19th, 2018 • by Summer Allen and Máximo Torero

 

On July 6, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on a range of Chinese goods worth $34 billion. China retaliated immediately with 25% tariff on U.S. goods, including agricultural products. While the goal of the tariff, according to the U.S. President, is to protect jobs and intellectual property, the impacts to U.S. producers has been and may continue to be substantial. Less than a week later, on July 19, U.S. soy prices hit a ten-year low, with the August futures for the price of a bushel at $8.39 and November futures at only $8.55 .

Source: Bloomburg

Sendai Framework Lays Out Plan to Enhance Global Disaster Management

Jun 9th, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

On March 18, 2015, the Third UN World Conference adopted The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 . The framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement that aims to substantially reduce loss of lives, livelihoods, health outcomes, and physical, economic, environmental, social, and cultural assets stemming from disasters, both natural and man-made.
The framework builds on the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters and sets forth seven global targets: