Regional
While favourable food security conditions prevail across most of Southern Africa, early warning signs provide alarming indications of looming significant food supply shortages that are likely to impact on the next marketing season starting from July 2015. The single major determinant of the negative performance is the erratic and unusually uncharacteristic rainfall season that has just ended.
South Africa, the largest producer in the region, accounting for more than 40 per cent of regional maize output, has estimated a maize production fall of 33 per cent on account of reduced yields raising serious concerns about the prospects of negative impact on food access through downstream dependant markets of the region in the upcoming 2015/16 consumption year.
Of great concern is Zimbabwe, which is facing a looming huge food deficit due to imminent widespread crop failure: by February 2015 an estimated 23 per cent of cultivated land was considered lost; and as dry spells have continued, more areas were affected, increasing the likelihood of a much bigger area loss, aggravated by further yield decrease.