According to the Minister of Agriculture:

• This year's drought will be the worst since 1953

• All regions affected

• The water level in dams is 52%

• 700k out of 800k hectares of rain-fed wheat will not produce anything this harvest.

The 2008 drought played a crucial role in the subsequent 2010 uprising, as hundreds of thousands of farmers were displaced from the northeast to the urban centres on the western side of the country, often living in slums without welfare and unemployment support.

This ongoing drought could well make the current conflict much worse as the bloodied actors vie for fewer resources. Half of the country's wheat crop is rain-fed, and the Ministry of Agriculture figures indicate 7/8 of that half will simply not exist.

Humanitarian actors should start planning now for the likely deterioration in living conditions throughout the country.