THISDAY, Vol. 16, No. 5797
Tuesda}! March 8, 2011
BusinessWORLD
nc
Tight Cereal Markets Push up Food Prices lobal
G
rood
i~
prices
for the eighth
consecutive mon th
in
February. with prices of all commodity groups monit~
rising agai n. a cept (or
sugar.
Food and Agriadture rgani-
sation (FAO) has said. FAO expects. lightening of the global cereal supply and demand balance in 20 10111 . 10 the (;:ace of a growing demand and • decline in wor1d CCJU;]
•••
production in 20 10. global cerul stocks this year arc cxpcdc:d to fall sharply because of a decline in im'efltorles of wheal and coarse grains. International ecrul prices have increased sharply with ex port prices of major gmins up al least 70 peR:ellt from Febru;uy last year. ·Unupeclcrl o il price spike5 could (unher exacerbate an ~y p~ous situation in food markelS: said David
Hallam, Director o f FAO's
Trade and Maricet Division. "This addJ e\-en mOTe uncenainty concerning the price outlook just as plonlings for crops in some o f the major growing rqions are aboul 10
stan." he added. lbc FAO Food Price Index averaged
236
point.s
in
February. up 21 pc:rccnl from January, the highesl rtrord in rtaI and nominal teons, since FAO started mooiloring prices in 1990. The Ce rcn l Price Index. which includes· prices of main food staples such as wheat, rice and maize, rtl!Ie by 3.7 pc:rccnt in February (254
below the peak n:'CIJfded in points). the highe:sl 1c\'C1 since July 2008.
lbc FAO Dairy Price Index avenged 230 points in February. up 4 pet'CCflt frum January. bu t weU below ilS peak in November 1fXJ1.
The FAO OilsIFats Price Index rtl!Ie marginally to 279 points in February. a level just
2008. The FAD Meal Price: Index a\~ragro 169 points in r-c:bruary, up 2 pcn:enl (rom January. By contrast. the FAa Sup:ar Price , ~ averaged 4 18 poinlS in February, slightly below the prffious month b.JI S1il1 16 ~nt higher than Febnuuy 20 10. JUIlC
Supply and
IITA Brokers Joint Liberia/Ghana Agric Development Agreement
Demand
T
he govemments ofGhan:!
AD expects wi n1 crcrops in
F
the northern hemisphere 10 be generally fa\"Ournble and forttaSlS global wheal productio n to increase by around 3 pc:rttnt in 20 11 .This ass umes a recovery in wheat production in m:ajor producing OOlInrrics of lhe Commonwealth of Independent Stales. So far, condi tions of winter crops in tho5e counlries are ~ncrally r~'I\'ourabk,
lbc lales! cscimate for the worl d cereal production in
20 10 is 8 mi ll ion lonlles more than was an ticipOIetI in l>ectmba bul s till s lightl y
below 2009. Th is month's upwanl Tevi~ion n::t1eclS mostly higher c:srim:lIes for production in Argentina. Chi na and Ethiopia, l1le forecast for world cereal utiliz.alion in 20 10111 h:l5 been revised up by 18 million lannes since December. T he: bu lk of the Tevis ion n::nects adjust. mcnlli to the feed and industrial utilil.luion of coarse grai ns, Larger use of maize for ethanol production in the United States and statistical adjustments to China's his to rical (s ince 2006r'(7) supply and demand balance for maize are the m:ain n::asons fOWhc n::vision.
and
the
Republic of Libe ria have officially agm::d 10 jointly dr:velop. promote and im plement ~an::h activi ties 10 improV'C the agricultllrnJ sectors of the Iwo cou ntries.
lbc iI~lCTlt was forged Ihrou&h. a Memor.mdum of Understanding (M oU) signed by
~ntalh'CS
of Ghana arid Liberia . TIle Inlem.1tion:11 Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ihroug h its Sus~nable
Ttee
Crops
ProgranUTll: (STCP). in col· l:lborntion wilh the Ghana Cocoa Board facilitated the dc\'el~t
and signing of the agrttmcnl. JITAlSTCP works in both countries. lbc agreement was signed by the Minister of finance and Economic Planning . Dr.
Kwabena Duffuor. and the Oiier Exccuth-e o f COCO· BOD, ""II. Anthony RI rie. for Ghana , and by the M iniSleI' o f Agricu lt ure . Dr. AOTence OIcI1O\\'Cth. and the Deputy DirectorGcnaal o f CARl, Dr. Abugarshall Kai "fI behalf of Liberia . UrKkr the MoU. the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) and Libcria'S Cenlrai AgrioJ lruraJ Resean:h Institute (CARl) will exchange e~pc:r· lise. knowledge. and genetic ~ (seeds lind nursery de-.l:lopme:nl) to develop and impru~'e the tree crops sector in Liberia . SJXCulCally, the national TCSean;h institutions of both counlries .....iII faci lilalc the provision o f planting m:lle· rial as requcsted by either cou ntries. make available resc:an:h and training facililies
and materials 10 visiling scicn· tislS from either instilUlion, and provide technical ~pcrtisc for the successful implernenlation o f mUlually.agn:cd projects. "We are \'CI'}' proud to be associmcd with lhe signing of this significanl agreement between Ghima and libcria ;' says John Casey, IITNSTCP ProgrnOimc "·I:'!nager. ""This MoU is a lestamenl to our ongoing commilment to n::aJi s· ing a food 5CCllre and poverty·
free Africa ."
.
"With this agn::cment. we envisioo a brighter tomorrow for farmc:rs in both cou ntries. This is also one way of gi\'lng back 10 these countries who ha\'e gntCiousty ho5ted U'i all these y~:' he adds. Paula Bramel . IITA Deputy DirKtor General (Rcsemt:h for Dc-.-elopmcnt) said.
"We believe that th is histor·
ical initiative will pnJ\'ide a vital link between the (1.1.'0 countries to catalyte the exchange of knowledge and expenise that is ~ 10 n:habilitatc the agricultural sector. especially of Liberia :. liberia is slowly rising from yean of civil war that !k\-alitated ilS economy. ITTAJSTCP has been in the country since 2006 10 help rebui ld its agriculrural ~Of by dc:\'elo ping and imple· menting innovatioos geared towanb raising producth'ity and product quality of cocoa. oi l palm and rubbcT: strength. ening farmer organizations and enhancing ITIOIfkrt oppor' tunities in collaborntioo with local partncn. lind engaging 5takc:holdcB to address policand institlJtional constraints.
Graphical depiction of all African countries maize production in metric tonnes (MT) A global spatial database of subnational agricultural land-use statistics. more 21,612 10, 520 4, 132 1, 175
,""...... ..
51,307 2 1,6 12 10,520 4,132 1,175
le ss unavailable
13920 km