FAO’s first forecast of global wheat production in 2017 points to an above-average output, but down from the record high of 2016, mostly reflecting expectations of reduced crops in North America. COUNTRIES IN NEED OF EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE: FAO estimates that 37 countries, including 28 in Africa, are in need of external assistance for food. Conflicts and weather-related shocks are the main drivers of food insecurity. The food security situation is of grave concern in northern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, where over 20 million people are facing severe food insecurity due to the protracted conflicts compounded by droughts in some cases. Famine was already officially declared in South Sudan.