FAO Food Price Index, adjusted for inflation, 1961–2010, calculated using international prices for cereals, oilseeds, meats, and dairy and sugar products. Apart from a peak in the early 1970s, the cost of food declined from the early 1960s until 2002, since when it has started an upward trend. The official FAO Food Price Index has been calculated since only 1990; in this figure it has been extended back to 1961 using proxy price information. FAO

Rome, October 10 (FAO) – Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, the United Nations’ three Rome-based agencies said in the global hunger report published today. Small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially at risk. Many of them still face severe problems following the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said in The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011 (SOFI), an annual flagship report which they jointly produced this year.
Such crises, including in the Horn of Africa, “are challenging our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half in 2015,” the heads of the three agencies — Jacques Diouf of FAO, Kanayo F. Nwanze of IFAD and Josette Sheeran of WFP — warned in a preface to the report. “But even if the MDG were achieved by 2015 some 600 million people in developing countries would still be undernourished. Having 600 million people suffering from hunger on a daily basis is never acceptable,” they said. “The entire international community must act today and act forcefully to banish food insecurity from the planet,” the three heads added. “Governments must ensure that a transparent and predictable regulatory environment is in place, one that promotes private investment and increases farm productivity. We must reduce food waste in developed countries through education and policies, and reduce food losses in developing countries by boosting investment in the entire value chain, especially post-harvest processing. More sustainable management of our natural resources, forests and fisheries are critical for the food security of many of the poorest members of society,” the three heads said. This year’s report focuses on high and volatile food prices, identified as major contributing factors in food insecurity at global level and a source of grave concern to the international community. “Demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, the population continues to grow, and further growth in biofuels will place additional demands on the food system,” the report said. Moreover, food price volatility may increase over the next decade due to stronger linkages between agricultural and energy markets and more frequent extreme weather events. Price volatility makes both smallholder farmers and poor consumers increasingly vulnerable to poverty while short-term price changes can have long-term impacts on development, the report found. Changes in income due to price swings that lead to decreased food consumption can reduce children’s intake of key nutrients during the first 1000 days of life from conception, leading to a permanent reduction of their future earning capacity and an increased likelihood of future poverty, with negative impacts on entire economies. But price swings affected countries, populations and households very differently, the report found. The most exposed were the poor and the weak, particularly in Africa, where the number of undernourished increased by 8 percent between 2007 and 2008 while it was essentially constant in Asia. Some large countries were able to shelter their food markets from the international turbulences through a combination of trade restrictions, safety nets for the poor and releases of food stocks. However, trade insulation increased prices and volatility in international markets compounded the impacts of food shortages in import-dependent countries, the report said. […]

World hunger report 2011: High, volatile prices set to continue