Pakistan bans wheat exports

On 17 July, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Government of Pakistan imposed a ban on the exports of wheat and wheat flour. Below-average irrigation water supplies and reduced precipitation at the start of the season resulted in a lower-than-expected wheat output this year. Although domestic availabilities are estimated to be still adequate at country level, the Government decided to halt wheat exports amid raising concerns over a hike in the domestic prices of wheat products and because of the reduced volume of wheat procured this year compared to a year earlier. In the 2017/18 and 2018/19 marketing years (May/April), Pakistan exported 795 000 tonnes and 994 000 tonnes of wheat, respectively, representing 3-4 percent of the annual output. The main importing countries are Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and some African countries.

Source: http://www.fao.org/giews/food-prices/food-policies/detail/en/c/1202821/

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets: Key Messages

Report Theme: Agricultural Trade, Climate Change and Food Security

• The role of emerging economies in global agricultural markets has increased since 2000. Growing income per capita and reduced poverty boosted food consumption and imports, while increases in agricultural productivity led to growing exports. 
• Developing countries are increasingly participating in international markets. South–South agricultural trade has also expanded significantly. For Least Developed Countries, agricultural imports have grown faster than exports. 
• Climate change will affect world regions unevenly. It is already affecting vulnerable countries and will pose a major threat to their food security. 
• Agricultural trade can help in adapting to climate change and in ensuring food security. It can support adaptation efforts by stabilizing markets and reallocating food from surplus to deficit regions. 
• In principle, there is no fundamental conflict between climate change policies and multilateral trade rules. Various provisions of the WTO can accommodate the implementation of climate-related policies of the Paris Agreement. 

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World: Key Messages

• New evidence continues to signal a rise in world hunger and a reversal of trends after a prolonged decline. In 2017 the number of undernourished people is estimated to have increased to 821 million – around one out of every nine people in the world. 
• While some progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, levels still remain unacceptably high. Nearly 151 million children under five – or over 22 percent – are affected by stunting in 2017. 
• Wasting continues to affect over 50 million children under five in the world and these children are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, over 38 million children under five are overweight. 
• Adult obesity is worsening and more than one in eight adults in the world is obese, or more than 672 million. Undernutrition and overweight and obesity coexist in many countries. 
• Food insecurity contributes to undernutrition, as well as overweight and obesity, and high rates of these forms of malnutrition coexist in many countries. The higher cost of nutritious foods, the stress of living with food insecurity and physiological adaptations to food restriction help explain why food insecure families may have a higher risk of overweight and obesity. 

د ۲۰۱۸ کال د خوړو او کرنې د وضعیت د راپور لس غوره پیغامونه

د خوړو او کرنې د وضعیت د تیر کال (۲۰۱۸) راپور په کډوالي، کرنه او کلیوالي‌ پراختیا باندې لیکل شوی. ددې راپور لس غوره پیغامونه مې ستاسو درنو لوستونکو لپاره پښتو ته وژباړل. هیله لرم چې په لوستلو سره به یی پدې برخه کې خپل معلومات تازه کړی. که غواړی بشپړ راپور ولولی، ددې لیکنې په پای کې له ذکر شوي اخځ څخه ګټه واخلي. 

1.     له ننګونو سره سره، کډوالي د اقتصادي، ټولنیزې او انساني پراختیا برخه، او د هیوادونه په منځ کې او ترمنځ نابرابریو د راټیټول وسیله ده. 

2.     هیوادونه به د پراختیا په بیلابیلو پړاونو کې د نړیوالې کډوالۍ سرچینې، ترانزیتي لارې یا آخرني مقصدونه وي، او ځینې وختونه کیدای شي‌ ددې دریو اجزاؤ څخه یو ترکیبی شکل غوره کړي. 

3.     په نړیواله کچه، نړیوال مهاجرت د کورنۍ کډوالۍ (بیځایه کیدنې) په پرتله ډیر کم دی. په پرمختیایی هیوادونو کې له یو بیلیون څخه ډیرو وګړو په کور د ننه له یو ځای څخه بل ځای ته  کډه کړیده.

4.     د نړیوالو او کورنیو کډوالیو د لړۍ ځینې لاملونه له یوبل سره ورته دي او یو واحد سیستم رامنځ ته کوي. د بیلګې په توګه، په ټیټ‌ عاید لرونکو هیوادونو کې کورني کډوال د هغه کسانو په پرتله چې کډه شوي ندي، پنځه ځله زیات ددې غوښتنه لري چې نورو هیوادونو ته کډوال شي.  

پائین آوردن سطح آسیب پذیری در برابر خشک سالی

آب یک نعمت بزرگ الهی است که بدون آن زندگی زنده جان ها امکان ندارد. آب شیرین یکی از منابع طبیعی محدود در جهان میباشد، که استفاده بی رویه از آن باعث پیامدهای ناگوار شده میتواند. چون افغانستان اقلیم خشک و بری دارد و میزان بارندگی سالانه آن بسیار کم میباشد (تقریباً ۳۰۰ ملی متر)، مسئله استفاده از منابع طبیعی آب برای مصرف فامیل ها، زراعت و صنایع بسیار جدی میباشد. گفته میشود که ظرفیت منابع آبی کشور به ۷۵ میلیار متر مکعب میرسد، البته این مقدار در نوسان میباشد. استفاده بهینه از این منابع آبي همراه با حفاظت و تقویت آن بسیار ضروری پنداشته میشود. این یک موضوع بزگ است و طی چند سطر به همه جوانب آن رسیدگی کردن مشکل است. در اینجا مشخص بالای تکرار نسبتاً منظم خشک و آب سالی، و چگونگی مدیریت کم آبی جهت پائین آوردن سطح آسیب پذیری میباشد. 

Reliable Data is Necessary for Establishing an Accountable and Transparent Public Administration

Establishing an accountable and transparent administration is one of the main mottos of the previous and present governments of Afghanistan. This should be the main goal in countries experiencing a prolonged period of political and economic instability such as Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani has been working tirelessly to establish an efficient, responsible, accountable and transparent public administration. He is going to run with such a promise in the next presidential elections. However, this should be the main agenda of any future government of Afghanistan no matter who will be leading it. 

The Remarkable Change in Fuel Price of Kabul Market

       As you know, the fuel prices in major cities including Kabul has been experiencing upward trend in winters. Although I could not get the price data for this winter period, the following Table summarize the change in real and nominal prices of petrol, diesel and liquid gas between May and November 2018 in Kabul city. The data show that during this short period (before winter), the real price of petrol, diesel and liquid gas has substantially increased by 16%, 25% and 33%, respectively. This is much lesser than the 7% depreciation of Afghanis against US dollar, which is commonly quoted as reason for higher fuel prices in the country. 

      I wanted to turn the attention of relevant authorities to this problem, which is known to everyone but no one take the responsibility to correct fuel market. The lobbying and pressures 
      If we analyze the difference between FoB (export) and CIF (imported) prices of fuel, the profit margin of traders is very high and unfair. The fuel market concentration lead to asymmetric price transmission. That is, prices are increased very fast but decrease in prices is very slow. In other words, the high prices of fuel are sticky. 

Trends in International Rice Prices

• After posting a mild (0.7 percent) recovery in December 2018, the FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-04=100) reached 220.1 points in January 2019.  At that level, the Index stood 1.8 percent above its December value, but still 1.7 percent below levels registered a year earlier. 

• January’s Index increase was led by 4.1 percent rise in Japonica prices. These were buoyed by a series of Asian import tenders, launched in the context of tighter export availabilities and poor production prospects for drought-stricken Australia. The Aromatica Index also edged up in January, although subdued buying interest capped currency-led gains in this segment to around 1.2 percent. By contrast, a quiet pace of trade kept Indica quotations steady to mildly weaker for a second successive month. 

• Thai prices strengthened during January in tandem with a further Baht appreciation. After touching 26-month lows in December, Pakistani values also staged a modest recovery on the back of East African sales. Meanwhile, a fast pace of public domestic procurement and a slow progress of Rabi plantings promoted another advance in Indian Indica offers. By contrast, a dearth of fresh sales and promising prospects for the imminent 2019 winter-spring harvest caused prices in Viet Nam to slide by 7 percent to their lowest since May 2017. The undertone was also bearish in Cambodia and Myanmar, where news of the EU’s instatement of safeguard measures against Indica imports from these countries weighed on sentiment. In the Americas, deals to Latin American buyers sustained Indica quotations in the United States, while slow demand kept values stable in Brazil and Uruguay, or lowered them slightly as in the case of Argentina, despite seasonally tight availabilities and subdued prospects for forthcoming 2019 harvests in these countries. 

For more information about the international rice prices, please follow the link below:

http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/rice-publications/the-fao-rice-price-update/en/

Source: FAO