After increasing markedly for three consecutive years, food production remained stagnant in 2014 with the aggregate output put at 5.94 million tonnes (including cereals, soybeans and potatoes in cereal equivalent). This figure comprises the official estimate of the 2014 main harvest and forecast for the 2015 early crops from cooperative farms, as well as FAO projections of production from sloping land and household gardens. Paddy production dropped by about 10...

GIEWS Special Reports and Alerts - These short reports describe the food supply and agricultural situation in countries or sub-regions experiencing particular food supply difficulties. They also alert the international community on measures to be taken. Special Reports are often the result of rapid evaluation missions - or Crop and Food Security Assessment Missions (CFSAMs). We include below two reference documents on the CFSAM methodology.

Rice production is estimated to decline by 12 percent, 8 percent and 3.7 percent in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, respectively. The sub-national level impact on production is much higher (up to 20 percent) in the areas hit hardest by the disease. The general decline in economic activity has severely affected households’ wages and incomes. The number of food insecure individuals due to Ebola is estimated in hundreds of thousands in...

Following the Intergovernmental Group Meeting on Tea in New Delhi in 2010, FAO was requested by the Government of Kenya to assist with a climate change impact assessment of tea in Kenya and to help develop a new strategy to confront its effects. This report is the outcome of a two-year project in Kenya and offers the findings from an integrated climate impact assessment. The analysis covered (i) historical and...

This document examines the contrib ution of tree products derived from baobab (Adansonia digitata), shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and néré (Parkia biglobosa) to smallholder livelihoods where these nontimber forest products form a significant part of the subsistence economies of smallholder households in the Sahelian region. The benefits are access to nutritious foodstuffs particularly during the soudure hunger season and are also commercialised.

FAO and WFP, in collaboration with the Government and partners have been actively carrying out field level rapid assessments to assess the impact of the EVD crisis on food production, supply situation and the overall food security primarily through rapid assessment. In addition, FAO/GIEWS has developed a Disease Impact on Agriculture – Simulation (DIAS) Model to provide estimates of the impact of EVD on crop production, while WFP has developed...

FAO and WFP, in collaboration with the Government and other partners have been actively carrying out field level rapid assessments to assess the impact of the EVD crisis on food production, supply situation and the overall food security primarily through rapid assessment. In addition, FAO/GIEWS has developed a Disease Impact on Agriculture – Simulation (DIAS) Model to provide estimates of the impact of EVD on crop production, while WFP has...

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak resulted in a serious shock to the agriculture and food sectors in 2014. The epidemic started spreading when crops were being planted and expanded during the crop maintenance and the critical harvesting period for the staple crops rice, maize and cassava. Nationally, the aggregate food crop production is estimated at about 2.09 million tonnes, about five percent lower than 2013. Milled rice production, accounting...

Many developing countries are currently under pressure to reduce their trade barriers to the entry of agricultural products. This pressure comes both as a result of ongoing trade negotiations (multilateral, plurilateral or bilateral) and due to policy advice from donors and international organizations based on the assumption that a liberal agricultural trade policy is necessary to allow growth through trade expansion. Although developing countries are very heterogeneous both...

The Global food price monitor was issued by GIEWS from 2010 until the end of 2014, reporting on food price developments at world, regional and country level with focus on developing countries. From January 2015 this report was replaced by the Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin.