Page 77 - 40th Summit Brochure 2020

the SADC Harmonised Seed Regulatory Sys- 2020, good rains were received in most parts
tem (HSRS); protection of the regional mar- of the region, including parts of Angola,
ket through formulation of appropriate Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
instruments; predictability of government Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanza-
policies; accelerated implementation of the nia and Zambia, resulting in excessive rains
RAP, RAIP and ADF and their domestication and f ooding in several areas.
in NAIPs; promotion of cross-border utilisa- T e generally high rainfall in the second
tion of existing capacity through the sharing half of the season was benef cial for crop-
of storage, ref ning, ginning and spinning fa- ping although a four-week dry spell, starting
cilities; and modernisation of the regional in late February in central and eastern parts
agricultural sector through mechanisation, ir- of the region, marked an early end to the
rigation and the use of information commu- rainfall season. T e premature end of rains
nication technologies. caused wilting of much of the late-planted
Other measures agreed at the meeting in- crop, dampening good harvest prospects
cluded the need to operationalize the SADC brought by the favourable January and Feb-
Agricultural Information Management Sys- ruary rainfall.
tem to include integrated commodity market T e poor seasonal rainfall distribution
information; strengthening of the Southern negatively af ected harvest prospects in many
African Pesticides Regulators Forum; the areas in the southern half of the region while
need to develop a system similar to the HSRS excessive rains caused f ooding that resulted
for fertilisers and soil fertility inputs; strength- in loss of lives, displacement of populations,
ened implementation of the SPS and Techni- destruction of infrastructure and washing
cal Barriers to Trade annexes to the SADC away of crops in north-eastern parts of the re-
Protocol on Trade; and promotion of mecha- gion. Drought conditions experienced in
nisms for cross-border investment in farming some parts of the region also af ected pasture
enterprises and processing. and water availability, resulting in Member
States such as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho
and Namibia introducing subsidies for live-
74 Regional Food Security Situation stock feeds and veterinary medicines.
Botswana for the f rst time allowed the tem-
Rainfall Performance during the 2019/20 porary export of live cattle, with 26,848 cattle
crop season exported to Namibia and South Africa.
Rainfall performance during the 2019/20
season has been erratic in most parts of the Food Security Prospects
region. During the f rst half of the season, T e regional food security situation during
from October to December 2019, well the 2020/21 marketing year is expected to be
below average rainfall was received in cen- worse than the previous season. T is is due to
tral and southern parts of the region, result- unstable conditions experienced across the
ing in the delayed onset of planting, reduced region on the back of a number of factors, in-
area planted, poor germination and crop es- cluding a generally poor harvest during the
tablishment. In some parts of the central previous season, the late onset of the rains,
areas, the October to December 2019 rain- early cessation of rains, prolonged dry spells,
fall was the lowest since 1981. In the second heavy rains that caused f ooding as well as
half of the season, from January to March pest outbreaks, and social and macroeco-
nomic challenges.
Since the El Niño-induced drought of the
2015/16 cropping season, drought has per-
sisted in the region, eroding coping mecha-
nisms and resilience of the population and
deepening food insecurity. T e projected food
insecure population for the 2019/20 season is
a record 43 million, about 61percent higher
than the previous season and 42 percent
above the past f ve-year average, according to
the 2019 Regional Vulnerability Assessment
and Analysis Synthesis Report. T e impact of
the reduced crop production on household
food security will be more severe in those