Following El Niño and the failure of two consecutive rainy seasons, Southern Africa has experienced the worst drought in 35 years. Significant harvest failures and a decrease in cultivated area has, according to cereal harvest assessments, resulted in a cereal shortfall of 9.3 million tonnes in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with only 72 per cent of required cereals available in the region (excluding DRC, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania). Preliminary results from the annual vulnerability assessments released by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) indicate that close to 40 million people across the region will be food insecure at the height of the lean season (January to March 2017). Given the high numbers of estimated food insecure, WFP urgently needed to update its analysis of the evolving situation in order to adjust response plans for the coming lean season. For this purpose a mission to Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe took place in July 17-29 2016. The overall objective of the mission was to take stock of developments in the macro-economic situation in the region, with particular focus in the four countries and increase understanding of current and near-term regional/national staple food commodity stocks, flows and market signals.
