Food price updates track international prices of key cereals (maize, rice, and wheat), and comment on events in markets that affect them. This update reports events in the first quarter of 2016.

Despite the strong El Niño that formed in late 2015, world cereals markets have hardly been affected. Prices of the main grains have continued to fall or maintain their low levels.

For southern Africa and Ethiopia, however, El Niño has brought severe drought, harvest failures, food insecurity and hardship for 26 million people.