One of the biggest challenges faced by smallholder farmers today is climate change, and the increasingly variable weather patterns that result from it. While farmers in some tropical regions may benefit from rising temperatures, the majority of the world's smallholders will face increased hardship as a result of warmer weather and uncertain rainfall. Future food security, particularly for developing countries, will depend on how populations react to and cope with the challenges presented by climate change.

FEWS NET has released its monthly price watch for February 2012. The report cites stable and declining grain prices in much of West and East Africa, although prices remain high in the Sahel region and Kenya. In particular, grain prices in South Sudan remain very high due to poor production and trade; similarly, maize prices in Malawi continue to increase rapidly. Afghanistan and Tajikistan continue to see high wheat and wheat flour prices.

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A Policy Dialogue on Food Security Information Needs in Kenya, co-organized by IFPRI and KIPPRA, was held in Nairobi, Kenya in March of 2011. To revisit some of the more pressing issues to have emerged from this Policy Dialogue, IFPRI and KIPPRA call for the development of two papers. (For access to the Policy Dialogue proceedings report, please contact Jenna Ferguson at J.Ferguson@cgiar.org .)

PAPER TOPICS

FEWS NET has released its Food Price Watch for January 2012. The report details the food security situation throughout Africa, where prices in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Somalia have declined. Kenyan maize prices remain extremely high, as do prices in West Africa.

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FEWS NET has released its Global Price Watch for September 2011, citing continuing high prices in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Africa's newest nation, South Sudan, is also facing increased prices on some staple goods due to conflict and trade restrictions. Global rice prices saw a moderate upswing, due in part to Thailand's new rice price subsidy.

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After two consecutive seasons of poor rainfall, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the region's worst drought in 60 years. Drought conditions have led to widespread crop failure and livestock deaths, as well as increasing food prices. Somalia now faces famine conditions in the southern part of the country.

As the food security emergency in the Horn of Africa continues, FEWS NET has compiled a wide-ranging collection of information and resources related to the ongoing drought, famine declaration, and causes behind the crisis.

Overall
FEWS NET Horn of Africa crisis web-page with all links (updated regularly)

Somalia 10 Day Update of Conditions

Kenya 10 Day Update of Conditions

East Africa: Multi-Sectoral Response is Critical

Special Report on Rice Prices

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has released a food security alert for East Africa, stating that the region’s current food security crisis is likely to worsen due to below-average rainfall forecasts for March-May, 2011. Rising food prices and declining household purchasing power in areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya have pushed levels of acute malnutrition above emergency thresholds in these regions. The worst-case scenario predicts rainfalls of less than 50 percent of average in the coming six months.

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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.

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