Concerns about long-term dryness have been partially alleviated as late winter moisture fills deficits
Key Messages
- Concerns about prolonged dryness during the 2010/2011 wet season were alleviated this month as late-January and early February precipitation closed large seasonal cumulative precipitation deficits that developed during the first three months of the wet season.
- The increased precipitation is likely to slightly change the 2011 harvest from well-below normal to below normal, thereby limiting the severity and preventing an early onset of the 2012 lean.
- Prices for imported food from Pakistan may increase in the near future as the Pakistan government has imposed a tariff on all goods transiting into Afghanistan. In addition, China government declared a drought in northern China, which will add pressure to regional wheat commodity markets which could result in elevated wheat prices that will impact non-wheat growing areas of Afghanistan, such as central highlands and southern Afghanistan.
