Worldwide cereal production is expected to increase in 2011-2012, but “there is uncertainty about the improvement’s impact on food security because of the global economic slump and increased risks for recession,” according to a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report released on Thursday, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

The report “also cited concern over the effect of irregular rains in West Africa in the 2011 cropping season and of severe monsoons on crop prospects in Far East Asia,” the AP writes (10/6). The FAO’s quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation (.pdf) report estimates “32 countries around the world are in need of external assistance as a result of crop failures, conflict or insecurity, natural disasters, and high domestic food prices,” according to an FAO press release (10/6).