CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Price Bulletin March 2021 The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in staple food prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity. For each FEWS NET country and region, the Price Bulletin provides a set of charts showing monthly prices in the current marketing year in selected urban centers and allowing users to compare current trends with both five-year average prices, indicative of seasonal trends, and prices in the previous year.
The main staple foods produced and consumed throughout most of Central America and the Caribbean are maize, rice, and beans; the latter constituting a key source of protein for poor households. In Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua white maize, mostly consumed in the form of tortillas, and red or black beans are preferred, while in Costa Rica and Panama rice dominates in production and consumption. In Haiti, the primary staples are rice, black beans, and maize. In Central America, there are typically two main growing seasons: the Primera (April-September) during which maize is primarily produced, and the Postrera (August-December) during which bean production dominates. The Apante season (November-March) is a third growing season during which beans are produced in south-central Nicaragua, northern Guatemala, and northern Honduras. In Haiti, there are several growing seasons. Maize is produced during the Primavera season (April-September). Black beans are produced over two seasons in Haiti’s humid and mountainous areas. The first season spans from March to May and the second from July to October. Beans are also produced in the country’s irrigated and humid mountainous areas during a third, fall season from December to January. White maize and beans are commonly traded between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in Central America. The market in San Salvador in El Salvador is considered the most important regional market for these staple foods and is well integrated with the rest of the region; due to the high levels of commercial exchange it hosts both with regional and international markets. Other important trade hubs include Guatemala City (Guatemala), San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Chontales and Managua (Nicaragua), San Jose (Costa Rica) and Panama City (Panama). The Dominican Republic is Haiti’s main source for imported maize, beans, and tubers. Haiti relies heavily on the United States for rice imports, for about 80 percent of consumption needs.
Source: FEWS NET gratefully acknowledges various local government agencies, UN agencies, NGOs and private sector partners for providing market data and information used in this report. In particular Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) of Guatemala, the Agricultural Product Market Information System of Honduras (SIMPAH), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of El Salvador, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAGFOR) of Nicaragua, the National Council of Production of Costa Rica, the Secretariat of Economy of Mexico, Institute of Agricultural Marketing (IMA) of Panama, and the National Committee for Food Security (CNSA) of Haiti.
FEWS NET Central America FEWS NET is a USAID-funded activity. The content of this report does not necessarily [email protected] reflect the view of the United States Agency for International Development or the www.fews.net United States Government. CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Price Bulletin March 2021
MAIZE: White maize is the main staple food in the northern and central parts of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). Together, these countries produce about 70 percent of their total maize needs; they import yellow maize for animal feed, mostly from the United States. Guatemala, at times, imports white maize informally from Mexico. In Haiti, yellow maize is used for human consumption. Haiti typically produces enough yellow maize to satisfy over half of local demand and imports the rest from the United States in the form of maize flour.
5 Year Average 2015/16 - 2019/20 2 Year Average 2018/19 - 2019/20 Previous Year 2019/20 Current Year 2020/21 P White Maize: Nominal wholesale prices in Guatemala White Maize: Nominal wholesale prices in San City, Guatemala Salvador, El Salvador 200 30
25 150 20 lbs lbs
100 15
GTQ/100 USD/100 10 50 5
0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
White Maize: Nominal wholesale prices in Tegulcigapa, White Maize: Nominal wholesale prices in Managua, Honduras Nicaragua 1200 800
1000 600 800 lbs
lbs
600 400
400 NIO/100 HNL/200 200 200
0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
White Maize: Nominal wholesale prices in Mexico City, Maize Meal: Nominal retail prices Port-au-Prince, Haïti Mexico 8 300
7 250 6 200
5 lbs
4 150 MXN/kg 3 HTG/6 100 2 50 1 0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Maize Meal: Nominal retail prices Jacmel, Haïti 300
250
200 lbs
150
HTG/6 100
50
0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
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BEANS: Beans are produced and consumed throughout Central America and Haiti. Nicaragua is typically a surplus producer of both red and black beans and supplies the region's deficit areas such as El Salvador, western Honduras, western Guatemala, and Costa Rica. The majority of cross-border red and black bean trade takes place immediately following the Apante season in March. Black beans are preferred in Guatemala and Costa Rica, while red beans are preferred in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Black beans are consumed by the majority of the population in Haiti and over half of the national supply is assured through domestic production, with the remainder assured through imports from the Dominican Republic.
5 Year Average 2015/16 - 2019/20 2 Year Average 2018/19 - 2019/20 Previous Year 2019/20 Current Year 2020/21
Red Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in Managua, Red Red Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in Nicaragua Tegucigalpa (Zonal Belén), Honduras 3000 5000 2500 4000 2000 lbs lbs
3000 1500 2000 NIO/100 1000 HNL/200
500 1000
0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Red Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in San Salvador, Black Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in Guatemala El Salvador City, Guatemala 90 600 80 500 70 lbs 60 400 lbs 50 300 40 USD/100
30 GTQ/100 200 20 100 10 0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Black Beans: Nominal wholesale prices Mexico City, Red Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in Mexico City, Mexico Mexico 30 35
25 30 25 20 20 15 15 MXN/kg
10 MXN/kg 10 5 5 0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Black Beans: Nominal wholesale prices in San Jose, Black Beans: Nominal retail prices in Port-au-Prince, Costa Rica Haïti 2.5 800 700 2.0 600 500 1.5 lbs
400
USD/kg 1.0
HTG/6 300 200 0.5 100 0.0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 2 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
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RICE: Rice is an important commodity in the household food basket in Costa Rica and Panama, which produce 50 and 70 percent of their total needs, respectively.Haitian households consume one of two varieties of rice: locally produced rice from the Artibonite region in the north-west, which accounts for approximately 20 percent of total supply, and imported rice which is largely sourced from the United States. The imported rice is much cheaper and is important in the poor households food baskets.
5 Year Average 2015/16 - 2019/20 2 Year Average 2018/19 - 2019/20 Previous Year 2019/20 Current Year 2020/21
Classified Rice: Nominal wholesale prices in Rice: Nominal retail prices in Port-au-Prince, Haïti Tegucigalpa (Zonal Belén), Honduras 800 1200 700 1000 600 800 lbs lbs 500
400 600
HTG/6 300
HNL/100 400 200 200 100 0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Imported Rice: Nominal wholesale prices in San Primera Rice (90/10; Unbroken/Broken): Nominal wholesale prices in Guatemala City, Guatemala Salvador, El Salvador 500 60
50 400 lbs
40 lbs 300 30 200 USD/100
20 GTQ/100 100 10
0 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
Rice : Nominal wholesale prices in Mexico City, Mexico
30 27 24 21 18 15
MXN/kg 12 9 6 3 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 5 Year Average Previous Year Current Year
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