Burkina Faso: prices of local cereals up sharply due to lack of supply
A grain field in the village of Diomga, Oudalan province, Sahel region, Burkina Faso.
Insecurity in this region combined with climatic conditions contribute to a rise in the price of raw materials.
RFI/Sayouba Traoré
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
According to the National Food Security Stock Management Company (Sonagess), in some collection markets, the prices of maize and white sorghum have increased by more than 40% compared to the same period last year.
Local millet is experiencing a 24% increase.
This increase also affects livestock feed such as cake, and weighs heavily on the wallets of Burkinabè.
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With our special correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Gaëlle Laleix
On the Sankaryaaré market, the capital's largest grain outlet, Ousseini Ouedrago sells cake.
Or rather he is trying because he has had to increase his prices: “
7,000 [
CFA
francs]
per bag, for 32, 33 kg.
Before, I sold it for
5,500, 6,000
. There are days when nothing is sold.
We manage, there is not much money.
Life is getting more complicated day by day.
»
Two reasons explain this increase: poor rains and insecurity which have seriously affected the agricultural campaign.
The men have cultivated little and today the supply does not match the demand.
“We have debts”
Kwanda Balkissa is also a trader.
Not only does she sell far fewer goods, but above all she no longer has the means to afford certain basic necessities: “
I paid 14,000 sack of corn the day before yesterday
. 13,000
. Only cottonseed oil is currently used because normal oil has become expensive.
We buy but as it increases, we take credits then we pay back little by little.
We manage with the family because things are not going well: we have debts.
»
In an attempt to stem this price spike, the Ministry of Commerce banned the export of millet, maize and sorghum flour at the end of February.
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Burkina Faso
Agriculture and Fishing
Raw materials
Food