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Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by more than 50 percent in marketing year 2024/25, due to extended dry spells associated with the El Niño event. Almost a million hectares of corn have been destroyed by the drought that forced the Zambian President to declare a “National Disaster and Emergency”.

Marketing year (MY) 2023/24 area harvested for Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal is expected to remain the same as the previous year at 1.23 million hectares (MHA), as increases in Mali and Senegal were offset by losses in Burkina Faso due to...

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal area harvested for marketing year (MY) 2023/24 is forecast to remain the same as the previous year at 1.23 million hectares (MHA) based on good farm gate prices, governments’ input subsidies, and farmers’ debt cancellation by the Malian and Senegalese governments.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to grow by 23 percent to 3.3 million metric tons (MMT) in marketing year (MY) 2023/24, mainly due to an upsurge in planted area.

Despite lower production in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, will be sufficient to meet domestic demand. Zambia’s corn crop is forecast to decline by 25 percent to 2.7 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23, after producing a record crop 3.6 MMT in MY 2021/22.

Rice production in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali is forecast at 8.02 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23 on average weather, improved irrigation, and enhanced stability in production areas. The 15 percent jump from MY 2021/22 follows a growing season that was plagued by poor weather, militant activity and instability in Mali, and irrigation issues and pest prevalence in Senegal.

Harvested cotton area for marketing year (MY) 2021/22 (August to July) in Mali, Senegal, and Burkina Faso is forecasted to increase 93 percent to 1.43 million hectares from the previous year.

Zambia produced its largest corn crop on record in the 2021/22 MY. This bumper corn crop of 3.6 million tons follows on Zambia’s third largest corn crop of 3.4 million tons produced in the 2020/21 MY.

Marketing year (MY) 2021/22 area harvested for rice in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali is expected to increase about 9 percent to 3.35 million HA as movement restrictions are eased in Guinea, planted area rebounds from flooding, and financing and input access for farmers increases.

The Government of Senegal is reviewing and revising its new biosafety law which may include language for an expedited approval process for certain genetically engineered (GE) products.

In the 2020/21 MY, Zambia produced its second highest corn crop on record. This bumper corn crop of 3.4 million tons is 69 percent higher than the previous season’s crop of 2.0 million tons.

MY 2019/20 (August to July) area for Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali is forecast at 1.4 million hectares (HA), a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year primarily due to higher area in Mali....