GRAIN FARMERS N° 44 : March 2020

Market situation in a nutshell:

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During the month of March 2020 when we expected to market sufficient cereal products, a specific event, the epidemic of the coronavirus "covid-19" which appeared in the past month has amplified and has had implications for the functioning of markets. Across West Africa, this pandemic has prompted many states to enact measures such as containment, sanitary cordon, foreclosure of cities and markets. The corollary was the increase in demand when the markets were poorly supplied. To this must be added the storage operated by certain cereal players. As a result, in many markets prices have been on the rise, although stability has also been observed. The trends by country and by sector are as follows:

For rice: Price increases have been observed in the markets of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Niger and Nigeria. At the same time, the trend was more stable on the markets of Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Togo and Benin,

For Maize: During the month of March 2020, 6 countries recorded price increases in their markets. These are Guinea, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo. Only 4 countries, namely Senegal, Benin, Niger and Nigeria observed stability in their markets,

For millet: The trend has been towards upward prices in most markets of the main producing countries. These are Senegal, Mali, Burkina, Niger and Ghana. Stability has been observed in all other markets (Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria)

For sorghum: Price increases were noticeable on the markets of Mali, Burkina, Niger. On the other hand, price stability has been observed in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria