, 06/04/2010 - Cereal prices in all major markets are not following normal seasonal trends. Prices have stabilized at a high level or increased since July 2009, and gone much above their average levels. This potentially reflects a stiff supply of grain compared to demand throughout the country. Cereal prices have also increased during February, in some significantly. February’s sorghum prices in Khartoum, the largest terminal market, are more than 150 percent above its 2005 - 2008 average prices for this time of the year. Although a slight increase in cereal prices is normal in the immediate post-harvest season (February – March), given the very high level of current prices in the country, the trend is particularly worrying this year. Unless this trend is reversed, further cereal price increases could jeopardize the fragile food security situation in the conflict prone and subsistence farming areas.