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The current El Niño phenomenon is expected to result in rainfall deficits and below-average harvests throughout Southern Africa in 2024, according to a recent alert from FEWS Net. Poor households throughout the region will likely face reduction in livelihoods and income and difficulty purchasing adequate food.

While some countries in Africa South of the Sahara have seen improvements in food security in 2023, the region as a whole continues to be plagued by food crises, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2023 Midyear Update. East Africa has been the hardest hit, with nearly 65 million people in the region having experienced high levels of acute food insecurity in the first half of 2023, up 8 million from 2022.

Africa south of the Sahara has been, and will continue to be, particularly hard hit by the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on global food and fuel prices, according to a new ebook from IFPRI. The book, based on IFPRI’s Ukraine blog and research brief series, provides a regional and country-level overview of the impacts of the ongoing crisis on SSA. It also concludes with policy recommendations and lessons learned to help the region, and the world, better respond to future food system shocks.

Cooperative farming is often seen as potential pathway for smallholder producers to gain access to more lucrative market opportunities, thus improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty. Such is the case in Malawi, where agricultural cooperatives have been prioritized in the country’s 2063 development vision as a way to enhance the productivity and commercialization of the country’s many smallholder farmers. A recent policy note from the Malawi Strategy Support Program (MSSP) looks at the current state of the program and how policymakers can increase its chances of success.