Between 24 November and 14 December 2019, assisted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other partners, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) carried out its annual Assessment Mission to determine crop production and food supply situation throughout the 18 states of the country. The Mission consisted of six core teams comprising members from the MoANR, the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) of...

Export prices of wheat and maize were mostly higher in January, mainly underpinned by a strong trade activity. International prices of rice edged up on easing harvest pressure and concerns over the potential impact of unfavourable weather on exporters’ outputs. In East Africa, prices of coarse grains in January persisted at relatively high levels across the subregion, due to an overall year-on-year reduction in the 2019 cereal output, further exacerbated...

In January, FAO’s price indices tracking the oilcrops complex continued to rise. The oilseeds and oilmeals indices increased for the second consecutive month, gaining, respectively, 5.0 and 4.2 points (or 3.4 and 2.7 percent). While the oilseeds index climbed to the highest level since May 2018, the index for oilmeals remained below the value observed in the corresponding month of last year. As for vegetable oils, the price index rose...

Medium-term Outlook: Prospects for global production and trade in bananas and tropical fruits 2019. Bananas and, particularly, tropical fruits constitute a significant source of economic growth, income, food security and nutrition for the rural areas of many developing countries. The projections for bananas and tropical fruits presented in this medium-term outlook span a ten year horizon, from 2019 to 2028.

International dairy prices in June, measured by the FAO Dairy Price Index, were down by 5.7 points (5.4 percent) from January 2020, with skim milk powder (SMP) registering the sharpest fall (-15.3 percent), followed by butter (11.8 percent), whole milk powder (WMP) (-11.2 percent), while cheese prices rose (+1.6 percent). In the key dairy importing countries, COVID-19-related lockdowns and social distancing measures reduced food-service sales in the first months of...

The worst desert locust outbreak in 25 years has caused significant pasture losses across East Africa, mainly in agro-pastoral areas of eastern Ethiopia, central Somalia and northern Kenya. As sustained locust reproduction is expected until June 2020, the outbreak has a high probability to spread to southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia, northeastern Uganda and South Sudan. Immediate upscaling of aerial control measures is urgently needed to mitigate crop and pasture losses...

The month of December saw FAO’s three price indices related to the oilcrops complex appreciate. Month-on-month, the oilseed and oilmeal indices gained, respectively, 1.7 and 4.1 points (or 1.2 and 2.7 percent), but the strongest rise occurred in the vegetable oil segment, whit its index rising 14.1 points (or 9.4 percent) –marking the sixth increase in succession and the highest level since November 2017.