Cereal prices in the Sahel continue to stabilize, approaching seasonal averages
KEY MESSAGES
Food insecurity across the region is stable at IPC Phase 1: Minimal levels, except in flood-affected areas of northern Nigeria, poor-performing agropastoral zones in North-Central Mali and western Niger, and localized pockets in southern Mauritania, where very poor and poor households are classified in IPC Phase 2: Stress. These populations will require well-targeted and technically appropriate assistance to build resilience before seasonal price increases during the lean season.
Food security continues to steadily improve off-season harvests and cereal price stability. In general, cereal prices (millet, sorghum, and corn) are unchanged or decreasing from last month, though still above the seasonal average (by 37 to 60 percent) on certain markets, particularly in the case of millet.
Restrictions on travel and trade following the closing of Libya’s borders with Chad and Niger, escalating conflict in northern Mali, and the evolution of Nigerian market response to both flooding and heightened unrest require monitoring, with specific attention to the impact of these factors on commercial flows and pastoral systems.
Malian markets, which had gradually been rebounding, have been further disrupted by the resumption of hostilities in the north. The impact of insecurity on regional flows of trade and labor is a key factor to monitor in the coming weeks.
