IRIN – Economic conditions in most southern African countries declined as a result of the global recession, pushing many more people towards greater food insecurity. According to a new food security update which focused on some southern African countries, food prices have risen and are still climbing in several countries.

The price of most fertilizers doubled in 2008 and continued to rise through 2009, affecting the quantity of crops planted throughout the region. High input costs prompted many governments to either extend their input subsidy programme or consider implementing one.

Here is a snapshot of food security in the region, based on an update compiled by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

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IRIN – Swaziland’s government is planning to subsidize agricultural inputs to boost food production in the consistently food insecure country.

The proposal, however, has yet to be passed by Cabinet and would then require the establishment of a financing scheme for the agricultural inputs ahead of the main planting period that begins in October.

In the past decade, up to two thirds of the one million population have relied on donor food assistance and although the food shortages were largely blamed on erratic rainfall, the return of good rains in 2009, did little to improve the country’s food security.

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IRIN – Every year Liberian farmers lose 60 percent of their harvest to birds and vermin or poor storage conditions, contributing to country-wide food insecurity, say UN officials, who are calling on donors to put more funding into pest management and storage.

The Ministry of Agriculture estimates 52,000 tons of rice out of 144,000 produced in 2007 was lost, while 44,027 tons of a 155,293 ton harvest was lost in 2008.

“Our interaction with farmers has shown they lack very basic knowledge of pest control,” said Augustus Flomo, a consultant with local NGO Agency for Economic Development and Empowerment (AEDE), which partners with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Liberia.

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