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Despite good harvest prospects, displacement, low employment opportunities, and floods drive assistance needs

Despite good harvest prospects, displacement, low employment opportunities, and floods drive assistance needs

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  • Key Messages
  • Key Messages
    • WFP, FAO, and FEWS NET have recently concluded field visits and information collection for the pre-harvest assessment 2016. The final report from all provinces will be available in mid-June. However, preliminary findings indicate that total area planted for wheat is likely slightly greater than last year. Furthermore, crop conditions are generally better than last year due to ample spring precipitation. 

    • Although agricultural prospects for main season harvests are near-normal in most areas with the improved precipitation from March through May throughout much of the country, conflict-induced displacement and reduced availability of wage labor after the withdrawal of ISAF forces remain important factors driving acute food insecurity in the country.

    • Localized spring flooding, which has taken place in 26 of 34 provinces, has had devastating impacts for households in some of the affected valleys. Based on estimations by UN OCHA, flooding between April 1 and May 18, 2016 has killed 83 people and destroyed 1,956 homes, affecting a total of 6,969 households. However, the impact on national-level cereal harvest is likely to be minimal.

    • Food security outcomes among agro-pastoral households are likely to remain supported by improved availability of household income from livestock products and sales, due to improved rangeland conditions and higher prices in most regions as compared to last year, with the exception of eastern and north-central regions. Most rangeland areas have received favorable cumulative rainfall, with the exception of localized parts of Western, South-Western and South-Eastern regions.

    • Aditional households have been displaced due to conflict in 2016 throughout most regions of the country. The greatest overall concentrations of displaced populations are in Kabul, Hirat, and Mazar-i-Sharif. Newly displaced households who have lost key sources of income will rely heavily on external assistance during the May to September period, particularly as non-agricultural labor opportunities remain low. 

    This Key Message Update provides a high-level analysis of current acute food insecurity conditions and any changes to FEWS NET's latest projection of acute food insecurity outcomes in the specified geography. Learn more here.

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