AFEX report forecasts maize, soybean, paddy, sorghum, cocoa prices to remain high

The AFEX wet season crop production report 2023 has forecasted that prices of key commodities are likely to remain high in the country due to a number of factors.

The report’s launch was attended by Mr David Babalola, Director of the Agriculture and Business Enterprises Statistics Department, National Bureau of Statistics; Abubakar Suleiman, Assistant FAO Representative Programs,

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Mrs Sugra Mahmood, Director, food and Nutrition, Federal Ministry of and Agriculture Food Security; Mustafa Turra, Vice President, Olam Grains, and Commissioner of Agriculture from Plateau State.

AFEX is a commodity exchange that deals in cashew, cocoa, ginger, sesame, soybeans, and paddy rice.

According to the 2023 wet season report, problems with seed and land utilisation are likely to cause soybean and sorghum to decline somewhat.

Due to older plants and less pesticide use, cocoa is likewise experiencing a decline in volume while sesame grows as a result of favorable weather and rising demand abroad.

A prolonged upswing in commodity prices is anticipated, with maize hitting all-time highs compared to the previous five-year average because of high demand and low beginning stock levels. Due to reasons such a decline in output, the dynamics of global demand, and low opening stock levels, soybean, paddy rice, sorghum, and cocoa are also predicted to remain high.

The COVID-19 outbreak and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have left the Nigerian food system still reeling, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to shocks from outside the world.

Food inflation reached 30.64 per cent in September of this year as a result of the recent financial crisis and the elimination of fuel subsidies.