Over the reporting period, cereals and tubers were harvested throughout the West Africa MPZ, with small spatial differences in harvest time sconditioned by latitude and elevation (such as in the case of Guinea). The MPZ as a whole underwent close to average conditions (see figure 2.1), with rainfall exceeding average by 6% and a drop in radiation of 1%, resulting in an overall drop in biomass potential of 6%. Few countries experienced extreme conditions:the largest rainfall deficit occurred in Côte d'Ivoire (-17%, leading to a BIOMSS drop of 18%), while Sierra Leone and Guinea both recorded rainfall excesses just above 20%, which were associated with drops in sunshine between 3and 4%.

Not only were total rainfall amounts close to average, but their distribution over time was according to expectation too in about 80% ofthe region, with some local exceptions in October. At the beginning of the month, about 15% of the MPZ (in the very south of all countries and especially in Ghana and Nigeria) experienced a rainfall shortfall between 10 and 25%. Atthe end of October, the same areas experienced a weaker deficit of about 10%.The area including northeast Sierra Leone, northern Liberia, southeast Guinea,and parts of central Côte d'Ivoire did experience the late October deficit, but also benefited from abundant rain during mid-October and at the beginning of December. This is also the area where the highest VCIx values were recorded.

Figure 2.1. West Africa MPZ: Agroclimaticand agronomic indicators, October 2014-January 2015