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Variable rainfall could negatively impact agricultural production in southern Africa, according to reports from FEWS Net and the SADC’s Food Security Early Warning System (Agromet).

Food security has long been a development goal in Africa south of the Sahara, as well as in other developing regions. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly recognized that basic food security – simply having enough food to eat – is not enough to ensure long-term, sustainable growth and development. Rather, nutrition security – having enough high-quality, nutrient-dense food to eat – is needed to improve health outcomes, drive economic growth, and end hunger in all its forms.

This post originally appeared on the IFPRI.org blog .

B Andrew Reid Bell, Patrick Ward, Lawrence Mapemba, Tim Benton, Klaus Droppelmann, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Frazer Mataya, and Oliver Pierson

As climate change continues to bring more frequent weather shocks, such as drought and flooding, and make rainfall patterns more erratic, smallholder farmers in developing regions like Africa south of the Sahara are often hardest hit. A new e-book from IRIN reports that mean temperatures in the region are expected to rise faster than the global average, leading to reduced agricultural yields and increased poverty and food insecurity.

Since June 2016, FEWS Net has followed the market situation in Nigeria; the country faces continuing economic challenges due to a global decline in crude oil prices and a depreciation of the national currency, as well as ongoing conflict in the northeastern regions. In the latest Nigeria Market Monitoring Bulletin , FEWS Net provides several updates of the implications of these challenges for the country and the region.