West-Central Africa Harvest Will Advance Swiftly
By Andrew Owen
Kansas City, November 22 (World Weather Inc.) – Rainfall was lighter than usual in a large portion of west-central Africa’s cotton, rice, sugarcane, coffee and cocoa production area during the past 30 days. Crop maturation and harvest conditions were generally favorable across the region because of the restricted precipitation pattern. Periods of light and erratic rain will slow fieldwork progress in several areas from southern Ivory Coast through southern Ghana and southern portions of Benin, Togo and Nigeria into portions of southwestern Cameroon during the coming week. Rainfall will not be enough to seriously delay harvest progress or significantly impact crop quality. Areas further inland will trend mostly dry and will be able to harvest with few disruptions.
Southern fringes of Ivory Coast and portions of southwestern Cameroon into southern Nigeria received near to above average precipitation for the 30-day period ending November 22. Rainfall was not well above average in most locations. The remaining production areas from Ivory Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso through the remaining portions of Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central Africa Republic received near or below average precipitation. Northern Ghana, neighboring areas in Burkina Faso and portions of both Togo and Benin received less than 25% of normal precipitation during this time.
Coffee, cocoa, rice, cotton, and sugarcane are some of crops produced across west-central Africa. The lack of rain for much of the production region during the past month promoted aggressive maturation and harvesting. Dry weather is still needed in the coming weeks as farmers continue to harvest the crops. Yields are expected to be near to above average this year in most locations. There has already been confirmation of above average cotton yields in Mali and neighboring areas.
Scattered showers will evolve on a frequent basis from southern Ivory Coast through southern Ghana into southern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon during the next seven days. Daily rain totals will often be too light to counter evaporation or impact long-term soil conditions. However, the frequent precipitation may induce sluggish field progress in several areas. Rainfall will not be high enough to impact crop quality. Moisture totals through next Tuesday morning will range from 0.25 to 1.50 inches with locally greater amounts for areas near the coast. Harvesting will advance around the precipitation.
Northern portions of both Ivory Coast and Ghana into Burkina Faso will trend dry or mostly dry during the coming week. Any rain that falls will be too light to counter evaporation or impact the harvest.
Temperatures will trend near to above average across west-central Africa through next Tuesday. The warm weather and lack of significant rain will be beneficial for late season maturation conditions. Drying rates and field progress will be high between rain events,
In the meantime, it is very important to note that rainfall in the 90-day period ending today was near to above average in many crop regions which is why production for most crops will be above average. A similar distribution of precipitation was noted in the 6-month period ending today, as well.
Temperatures in the most recent 30 days have been 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual.
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