Reference Date: 29-May-2024

Planting of 2024 cereal crops ongoing

Planting operations of the 2024 coarse grains (maize, millet and sorghum) and rice crop, to be harvested between October and January, are ongoing. The latest weather forecast by the Forum on Seasonal Forecasts of Agro-hydro-climatic Characteristics of the Rainy Season for Sudanian and Sahelian Zones of West Africa (PRESASS) points to average to above-average cumulative rainfall amounts between June and August, which are expected to support germination and early development of crops.

Cereal production in 2023 estimated at above-average level

Aggregate cereal production in 2023 is estimated at nearly 5.5 million tonnes, about 10 percent above the previous year’s level and about 30 percent above the average of the previous five years, reflecting a generally favourable rainfall distribution.

Prices of key food staples near year-earlier levels

Retail prices of both local and imported rice, the most consumed cereal in the country, were stable between December 2023 and March 2024, when they were near their year-earlier values in monitored markets. Similarly, retail prices of other important food products, including cassava, groundnuts and palm oil, were stable during the same period and were generally close to their levels of a year earlier.

On 30 January 2024, the government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim to improve the supply of local markets and enhance households’ food access. The MoU, effective immediately for a three month-period, included the establishment of price ceilings for basic food commodities, including wheat flour and imported rice.

About 1 million people projected to be acutely food insecure during the 2024 lean season

According to the latest Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analyses, nearly 1.03 million people (7 percent of the analyzed population) are projected to face acute food insecurity (CH Phase 3 [Crisis]) during the upcoming lean season, between June and August 2024. This shows a substantial increase in the number of acutely food insecure people compared to the same period in 2023, when nearly 710 000 people (6 percent of the analyzed population) were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance. However, the projected deterioration may be partly due to the expanded geographical coverage of the CH analysis for 2024.

The explosion at the Kaloum oil depot in December 2023, which destroyed the country’s main oil storage facility, has resulted in prolonged power cuts in the capital, severely constraining economic activities. However, this event was not accounted for in the CH analysis for Conakry Region, which was conducted prior to the explosion, unlike the CH analyses for the country’s other regions.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .