Improvement in the condition of crops with the normalization of rainfall conditions
The pick-up in rainfall activity since late July/early August has helped normalize crop growth and development, with a large percentage of crops already entering the last stages of their growth cycle by September.
In general, trends in food availability and food access are normal thanks to distributions of food aid in August and fresh crops from September harvests, which are reducing demand and market prices for grain crops.
With this year’s erratic climatic conditions, two out of nine farming villages could be facing large shortfalls in crop production, 56 percent of which are concentrated in the Tillabery and Tahoua regions of the country. This could make them vulnerable to food insecurity in 2011/12.
Current estimates put the number of people at risk for food insecurity at close to three million, two-thirds of whom are from the Tillabery and Tahoua regions, which is more or less on par with the five-year average.