Rome — In its latest July 2013 Crops Prospects and Food Situation report, the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports that the prices of domestic cereals (mainly sorghum and millet) remain at high levels since January 2013 in most monitored markets in Sudan.

The FAO report says that "the current prices are just 10-20 per cent below the record high levels of 12 months earlier when production was halved by a severe drought".

Current high levels result mainly from increased production costs, such as labour and fertilisers, high inflation rates, and increased informal exports to neighbouring countries (especially to South Sudan), the report states.

"Prices of wheat, consumed mainly in urban areas and mostly sourced from the international market, are at record high levels," the report continues, explaining that the surge in prices started in mid-2012 mainly due to high inflation, limited foreign currency reserves and the devaluation of the Sudanese Pound (SDG).

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)