What's New

International cereal prices remain significantly below last year’s levels due to abundant global supplies and strong export competition, says the latest Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Bulletin from FAO. The benchmark US wheat price was $214 per tonne in January, while the benchmark US maize price averaged $161 per tonne in January. Rice prices were slightly more varied depending on their origin; prices rose slightly for Thai 100%B white rice but fell for rice from Vietnam, India, and the US. These trends echo findings from this month’s FAO Food Price Index .

The USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate was released this week, citing larger-than-predicted US surpluses for corn and wheat. Increased competition from Canada and South America have slowed US exports of those commodities by 25 million bushels, the lowest since 1971-1972. These 25 million bushels have also pushed US wheat ending stocks to the largest volume since 2009-2010. For corn, US ending stocks increased by 35 million bushels this month.

Today’s global food and agriculture landscape is, in many ways, unrecognizable from what it was even at the start of the 21st century. From the widespread use of staple food crops for biofuel production to increased market volatility to growing threats from climate change, food security worldwide faces many new challenges. Add to that a burgeoning global population and complicated (and sometimes distortionary) national and international trade policies, and it becomes clear that policymakers need new, more coordinated options to ensure a food-secure future.

The FAO Food Price Index fell nearly 3 points in January, signaling a continued decrease in all of the commodities tracked by the Index and a decline of nearly 29 points from January 2015. This continued fall in prices is in part driven by the strong global supply highlighted in this month’s AMIS Market Monitor , along with an appreciating US dollar and lower global oil prices.

Climate change has been front and center of the global agenda recently, driven by the historic COP21 meeting in Paris in December and concerns about the ongoing El Niño cycle . Agriculture is one sector that will be particularly hard hit by a changing climate and to respond and adapt to global climate change, agricultural producers (particularly those in developing countries) will need to embrace new, more sustainable technologies and practices. However, when it comes to discussing climate-smart agricultural practices, one group often seems to fall through the cracks – women.