What's New

FAO's first Crop Prospects and Food Situation report of 2016 estimates that while global stocks remain at adequate levels, a total of 34 countries are in need of external food assistance due to a combination of civil conflict and El Niño-linked weather conditions. Twenty-seven of those countries are in Africa, where adverse weather resulted in significantly lower 2015 cereal harvests. Crop production prospects for southern Africa have been particularly affected, and this is likely to have severe food security implications in the region, according to the report.

According to the February FAO Food Price Index released last week, food prices were steady in February but were 14.5 percent lower than in February 2015. The Cereal Price Index fell by 13.7 percent from a year before, led by a 1.5 percent decline in wheat prices due to slower trade activity and the expectation of large exports throughout the rest of the marketing season. Maize prices also fell in February, while rice prices rose slightly.

Improved seed varieties that are more resistant to heat, drought, and pests and disease can help farmers increase their crop yields and adapt to the effects of climate change. However, smallholder farmers often do not use improved seeds, because of prohibitively high costs, a lack of access to seed dealers, or a lack of information about the benefits of improved varieties.

Trade was the major theme in January's Monthly News Report on Grains , released earlier this week. Changes in several countries' export and import policies and volumes were reported.

Since the launch of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Development Round negotiations in 2001, the global trade situation has undergone a dramatic transformation. Developing countries and emerging economies have become major global players, and large regional and plurilateral trade deals (so-called “mega deals”) like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are becoming more and more common.