Recent Implementation Matrix between Sudan and South Sudan may improve food security
KEY MESSAGES
An estimated 12.9 million people in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Rwanda face Stressed (IPC Phase 2) to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity, a substantial reduction from the 14.9 million that needed assistance at the end of last year. This is mainly due to average to above average harvests across many countries in the region in late 2012 and early 2013 and favorable pastoral conditions(Figure 1).
Widespread and well above-normal rains starting in midMarch, marking the onset of the March to May rainy seasons over northern and western Tanzania, Rwanda,
Burundi, Uganda, the Lake Victoria basin, western, southern, and northeastern Kenya, southern and central Somalia, and eastern and southeastern Ethiopia (Figure 2).Following the Implementation Matrix on security, economic, and cross-border cooperation singed on March 12, tensions along the border between Sudan and South Sudan eased. Access to cross-border livestock migration routes and small-scale, informal trade have already improved food security conditions on both sides of the border.