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Since June 2016, FEWS Net has followed the market situation in Nigeria; the country faces continuing economic challenges due to a global decline in crude oil prices and a depreciation of the national currency, as well as ongoing conflict in the northeastern regions. In the latest Nigeria Market Monitoring Bulletin , FEWS Net provides several updates of the implications of these challenges for the country and the region.

International coffee markets are changing quickly due to market liberalization, increasingly stringent quality and safety standards, and the development of specialty coffee markets.  Coffee production takes place primarily in developing countries, and such changes could have significant impacts on smallholder coffee producers. In Africa south of the Sahara, Ethiopia represents the largest coffee market actor, and the country’s coffee sector has seen improved productivity and increased prices in recent years.

Since the food price crisis of 2007-2008, there has been significant attention paid to the issue of price transmission from global to national markets, particularly in developing regions such as Africa south of the Sahara. A new paper published in the Journal of Agricultural Economics looks at seven key food security crops in Nigeria - maize, millet, sorghum, rice, cassava, yams, and cowpeas - to assess local (both urban and rural), regional, and international price transmission.

The lack of a reliable safe food supply in developing nations brings with it both health and economic costs. A recent article published in Agricultural Economics explores the idea that brands that can ensure the safety of their food should be able to charge higher prices for their product. This ability to earn higher profit in turn incentivizes brands to meet and maintain higher food safety standards. The authors note that this is the first study characterizing the relationship between product price and food safety in the branded product sector.

This blog originally appeared on IFPRI.org .

Trade integration is a powerful tool for economic growth, development, and poverty alleviation. In the Malabo Declaration (PDF) of June 2014, African countries committed to tripling the level of intra-African agricultural trade and services by 2025, fast-tracking the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area and adopting a continent-wide Common External Tariff scheme.