Grain Farmers Issue 1 - August 2016

To download the Issue 1 of Grain Farmers, the bulletin of information about cereal markets in West Africa click here.

The market in brief:

=> The lean period was uneventful in the sub-region. Only Niger has experienced a significant grain deficit but the market remains well supplied by the neighboring countries of: Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria with some imports even coming from more distant cereals producers (Mali, Ivory Coast).

=> International cereal prices remain at historically low levels and the outlooks for the two main markets of the sub-region, rice and maize, are clearly indicating low prices in 2016/2017.

=> Crop prospects are good in most production areas of West Africa. With increases in cultivated acreages and new production areas, record output are expected.

=> The main risk for the cereal sector stakeholders in West Africa in the season ahead is therefore related to marketing of the crop and financial losses that may occur during the storage of cereals. It is likely that storage of grains will not be very profitable in the coming months.