International wheat prices were generally stable in recent weeks but those of coarse grains continued to increase amid strong import demand. International rice prices also firmed, driven by demand for lower quality Indica and Japonica varieties.

In East Africa, prices of coarse grains generally followed mixed trends in February. In most countries, prices were around or below their year-earlier levels, except in the Sudan and South Sudan, where they were at near-record to record levels, underpinned by insufficient supplies and severe macro‑economic difficulties, including continuous and sustained depreciation of the local currencies.

In Central America, prices of beans mostly decreased in February with the start of the “Apante” season harvest, but remained well above their year-earlier values because of the significant increases in the past two months due to crop losses caused by two consecutive hurricanes in November 2020.