Sudan

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Inflation and sorghum prices (2017-2020)_WFP
Inflation and sorghum prices (2017-2020)_WFP

Food prices continue to soar fueled by high inflation – WFP Market Monitor December 2020

As the inflation continues to soar across Sudan so do the prices for sorghum and wheat, the staple crops. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says that the high food prices erode the purchasing power of thousands of vulnerable people.

On 12 January, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in its latest update that the inflation rate for December 2020 reached 269 per cent, compared to 254 per cent in November. CBS added that the average inflation for the year 2020 was 163 per cent compared to 51 per cent in the year 2019. Humanitarian partners report that the high inflation adds to operations as costs change between the planning and implementation.

WFP’s latest Market Monitor Report shows that in December 2020 prices for staple commodities continued to increase despite the ongoing harvest. Compared to December 2019, the cost of a food basket went up by 261 per cent, sorghum by 266 per cent, wheat by 209 per cent and the goat price by 316 per cent. The increase against the five-year average for the month of December was 777 per cent for sorghum and 1,000 per cent for groundnuts. The situation is expected to worsen as the value of the Sudanese currency deteriorates. The average food basket cost has increased steadily since the beginning of the year and the high food prices devalue the purchasing power.

The Global Humanitarian Overview 2021 estimates that a total of 13.4 million people (over a quarter of the population) in Sudan are projected to need humanitarian assistance n 2021. This represents a 44 per cent increase from 2020 and the highest level in a decade. About 7.3 million people need emergency assistance for life-threatening needs, while 13 million people need humanitarian services because living standards are so low. The highest needs include health, water and sanitation, and food security. A total of 7.8 million of people in need are women and girls. Particularly vulnerable groups include 2.5 million displaced people and 1.1 million refugees, mostly from South Sudan. Just over half of people in need are in the conflict-affected states of Darfur and the Two Areas, which have the highest rates of food insecurity. But the largest increases in people in need have been in the east and the center, driven by the economic crisis.

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