During the monitoring period, Nigeria has been harvesting the second maize crop, rice, cotton, peanuts, and potatoes, while it was the sowing period for rice (the second crop for the north and south regions). Furthermore, according to the crop calendar, cassava has been planted. Compared to average, the agroclimatic indicators show a slight reduction in precipitation (RAIN, -5%), which results in a reduction of 9% of biomass production potential (BIOMSS). The Soudano-sahelian region experiences the worst rainfall decrease (RAIN, -51%) linked to a 50% decrease in BIOMSS. Temperature and radiation were generally average. Nationwide, an increase occurred in the fraction of cropped arable land (CALF, +2.40 percentage points) compared to the five-year average. 

The NDVI development profiles indicate that crop condition generally was less favorable than the five-year average and also less favorable than conditions for the same monitoring period last year (November 2015-January 2016). Maximum VCI reveals a poor crop condition in the Borno region in the north of the country. Better crop condition occurs in a broad strip from Kebbi state in the west to Yobe state in the east, with VCIx values from 0.8 to 1 and values higher than 1. The spatial NDVI patterns and clusters indicate that crop condition was generally above average over the northern region of the country (8.6% of the total agricultural area) and poor in some patches in the southern regions (2.0% of area).

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