1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910697156203321

Autore

Persaud Suresh Chand <1969->

Titolo

Price volatility in Afghanistan's wheat market [[electronic resource] /] / Suresh Persaud

Pubbl/distr/stampa

[Washington, D.C.] : , : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, , [2010]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (18 pages) : illustrations

Soggetti

Afghan War, 2001-2021 - Economic aspects

Food supply - Afghanistan

Agriculture - Afghanistan

Grain trade - Afghanistan

Futures market - Afghanistan

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from title screen (viewed on Nov. 24, 2010).

"May 2010"

"WHS-10d-01."

"Outlook."

"A Report from the Economic Research Service."

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 16-17).

Sommario/riassunto

Wheat is a key staple food in Afghanistan, accounting for over half the caloric intake of the population. Although Afghanistan imports wheat and flour from a number of neighboring countries, Pakistan tends to supply more than half of these imports. Afghanistan's food supply network broke down in 2008 due to a confluence of events, including shortfalls in Pakistani and Afghan wheat production and Pakistan's bans on wheat and flour exports. Substantial price hikes were needed to bring increased flour shipments from Kazakhstan through the inefficient transport system from the North. Afghanistan will remain subject to supply disruptions and price spikes as long as its agricultural production remains highly variable and weak transportation links limit the country's ability to diversify its sources of imported grain.



Improvements in infrastructure could enable Afghanistan to diversify its wheat and flour imports and bring in supplies at a lower cost.