KEY MESSAGES
In West Africa, markets were well supplied with staple foods in December as regional harvests progressed. Staple food prices were stable or declining, except in areas directly and indirectly affected by the conflict in northeastern Nigeria.
The Ebola outbreak has led to both official and voluntary restrictions on the movement of goods and people in affected Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in atypical market trends in some areas (Pages 3-6).In East Africa, maize prices continued to decline in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and surplus-producing areas of Ethiopia as harvests and regional trade flows improved market supplies. Sorghum prices declined in Somalia and Sudan, with the progression of average to above-average harvests. Staple food prices were high and variable in the Greater Upper Niles States of South Sudan. Conflict, insecurity, and seasonal road condition deterioration continued to disrupt markets in parts of South Sudan, Somalia, and the Darfur and South Kordofan States in Sudan (Pages 6-10).
In Southern Africa, regional staple food stocks tightened in December, but availability remains higher than previous years. Harvests from the 2013/14 production year were well-above average in the region’s surplus-producing countries.
Maize price trends varied throughout the region in December but were below their respective 2013 levels (Pages 10-13).Market supplies increased with the recent Otoño harvests in Haiti and Postrera harvests in Central America between October and December. Red bean prices reached record-high prices in many areas of Central America in 2014, but began decreasing in November. Maize prices followed seasonal trends and declined in December, while local and imported rice prices remained stable throughout the region (Pages_14-15).
In Central Asia, wheat availability remained good in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while prices increased in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan over the last quarter of 2014 (Pages 16-17).
- International rice and maize prices were stable in December while wheat and soybean prices declined slightly. Global production for most key commodities reached record or near record levels in 2014, making for very well supplied global markets. Crude oil prices declined again in December and reached a six-year low (Pages 2-3).
