Attachments
FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
- Wheat harvest underway with above-average production forecast in 2025
- Cereal import requirements in 2024/25 estimated at below-average level
- Food prices eased in 2025
- Limited medical treatments among refugees in 2025 due to humanitarian funding crisis
Wheat harvest underway with above-average production forecast in 2025
Harvest of 2025 wheat crop began in May, and it is expected to be completed by mid-June, while planting of rice and maize crops started in May. Cereals are cultivated in irrigated fields, with relatively stable yields. Wheat production in 2025 is forecast at moderately above average level, driven by the provision of subsidized seeds which improved yields and the increase in planted area due to the high government procurement price, which was set at 2 200 EGP/ardeb in October 2024, up from 2 000 EGP/ardeb in March 2024 and about 30 percent higher than international prices. As of May 2025, the government purchased 3.5 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers, more than 15 percent higher than the volumes procured in the same period in 2024.
Cereal import requirements in 2024/25 estimated at above-average level
Cereal import requirements for the 2024/25 marketing season (July/June) are estimated at about 22 million tonnes, 5 percent above the average level. Wheat import requirements are anticipated at 14 million tonnes, about 14 percent above average, driven by low international prices (particularly for wheat sourced from the Russian Federation), high foreign currency availability and an expansion in domestic milling capacity. The latter is linked to increasing flour exports to neighbouring countries, including Sudan, the largest destination market for local wheat flour. It is noteworthy that wheat imports reached around 9 million tonnes between July 2024 and February 2025, about 70 percent more than during the same period in 2023/24.
Import requirements of maize, primarily used for feed, are estimated at 8 million tonnes in 2024/25, about 6 percent more than the previous year, reflecting an expansion in the domestic poultry industry.
Food inflation eased in 2025
Food inflation eased significantly as of early 2025, reaching 6 percent in April, down from 40 percent in April 2024. The national average prices of rice and wheat flour remained mostly stable between June 2024 and February 2025, and they were down by about 15 percent compared to the peaks reached in February 2024, which had been driven by local currency depreciation, increasing import costs and supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea.
Global humanitarian funding crisis threatens food security among refugees in 2025
As of April 2025, over 950 000 refugees, mostly Sudanese fleeing from the ongoing conflict, were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country, nearly double the number 12 months before. The ongoing global humanitarian funding crisis led UNHCR to suspend key aid for refugees in the country, with a severe negative impact on refugees’ access to essential services, including food, shelter, healthcare and education.