By Farai Mabeza

FOOD diversity in southern Africa remains poor because of erratic rainfall in the 2017/2018 season, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has said.
In its latest report, FEWSNET said that parts of the region affected by drought during the season would suffer from a lack of green foods.
“Early consumption of green foods normally improves household food diversity in the region during this time of the year, but this year, food diversity remains poor in drought-affected areas,” FEWSNET said.
Despite improved rainfall in several areas in the region, crops affected by earlier dryness and drought conditions never recovered. Production prospects for the 2018 season in affected areas, including southern and central Mozambique, Zimbabwe, southern Madagascar, and southern Malawi are very low because of below-normal yields and crop failure.
According to FEWSNET, stressed and crisis area outcomes will persist and are projected in parts of Madagascar, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Between June and September, a surge in crisis outcomes among poor households is expected because the main harvest will only temporarily improve household food availability, but in some cases not at all.
Similar outcomes are expected to persist in Kasai and Tanganyika provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to conflict. Most structurally-surplus parts of the region will continue experiencing minimal food security outcomes for the remainder of the outlook period, with the possibility of some areas transitioning to stressed levels from September onwards.
In most monitored markets, staple prices remain below last year and the five-year average. However, localised monthly price increases for maize grain have been reported in some markets in Malawi and Mozambique.
For Malawi, the increase has been linked to speculative behavior by traders due to anticipation of a decrease in production. For Mozambique the increase is linked to an increase in demand for market purchases in Tete market.
Maize grain prices in Zimbabwe remain stable. Markets impacted by conflict in the DRC continue to experience relatively high staple prices. Due to an expected decline in staple production in most countries, maize grain prices are expected to start increasing in August.
In general, regional maize grain supplies are still expected to be above average due to the contributions of significant carryover stocks from the 2017 harvests, despite reduced 2018 main harvest prospects. These supplies should help to stabilise food prices in the drought-affected areas.
Across the region, food prices are expected to follow the seasonal trend, decreasing during the harvests around May/June and stabilising through August.  The exception to these trends will be rice prices in Madagascar, which are expected to remain significantly higher than the five-year average due to consecutive seasons of drought.
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