The reporting period marks the end of the main harvesting season throughout the region for maize, sorghum, millet, and yams, with cereal production expected to be above average (+5%). The season is strongly influenced by the seasonal variation of the water balance in supporting crop production, especially cereals.The north of the MPZ, which only has one rainy season, has most cereals under harvesting. However in the west (Guinea to Liberia), rice plays an important part and the harvest extends into December and sometimes even January. The first maize crop was harvested in October for the areas experiencing bimodal rainfall (southern Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria), while the short season maize was harvested in January 2018. Cassava, the main staple in this region is still growing and predominantly reflected in the current cropped arable land area. 

The CropWatch observations indicated an average rainfall in 68.5% of croplands in the MPZ which lead to an overall decrease (-8% for RAIN), with close to average temperature of 26.5°C (-0.8°C compared to the fifteen-year average) and sunshine (RADPAR, -6% deviation), which gave a decrease in  biomass production potential (BIOMSS, -14%). The coastal regions of Cote I'voire and Ghana as well as parts of northern Nigeria experienced a positive departure (>20%) in biomass as compared to the whole region (-20%). The west of the region, including the Niger catchment area enjoyed an increase of precipitation above average, which resulted in improved river flow and irrigated crops in the Sahel (in Niger, the flow peaks between December and March, according to the years). For most of the MPZ, the cropped arable land fraction (CALF) reached 93% at the time of decreasing rainfall that marks the end of the rainy season. The VCIx map as index of crop condition showed average VCIx of 0.9. These climatic conditions were  favorable across the northern savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria which showed a good share of cropped arable land hence the extent of agricultural production in Nigeria and the region as a whole.

During this period the growing season was coming to an end with precipitation well distributed in time and space, temperature fluctuating within a +/-2°C margin after cessation of the rainy season. Based on these observations CropWatch indicators depicted a stable and coherent climatic condition for late crop harvest in early 2018.

a) Spatial distribution and departures of rainfall profiles

b) Spatial distribution and departures of temperature profiles

c) Distribution of cropped arable land

d) Biomass Departure

e) Maximum VCI

f) Minimum VHI