Global prices of food products such as grains and cooking oil fell last year from record levels in 2022, when Russia's war against Ukraine, drought and other factors contributed to the spread of hunger around the world, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today ) whose seat is in Rome.
The FAO food price index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of the most commonly traded food products, was 13,7 percent lower last year than the 2022 average, but sugar and rice prices rose at the time.
Last month, the index fell by some 10 percent compared to December 2022.
AP notes that the drop in food prices is happening despite a difficult year for food security around the world.
Climatic effects such as droughts, floods and the natural phenomenon of El Niño which brings rain and floods, combined with the consequences of conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, food embargoes and the weakening of the value of money, have particularly harmed developing countries.
Although prices of food such as grains have fallen from the timing of the 2022 hike, that relief has often not been felt in the real world of traders, street vendors and families trying to make ends meet.
More than 333 million people face acute food insecurity in 2023, the World Food Program, also a UN agency, said.
Rice and sugar in particular were problematic last year due to climate effects in the regions of Asia that produce those crops, and as a result prices have risen, especially in African countries.
With the exception of rice, FAO's cereal index last year was 15,4 percent below the 2022 average, "indicating well-supplied global markets," the statement said.
This is despite the fact that Russia withdrew from the war agreement that allowed grain from Ukraine to freely reach countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Countries that buy wheat have found suppliers in others, especially Russia, at prices that are lower than they were before the start of the war, analysts say.
FAO's rice index rose 21 percent last year due to India's restrictions on the export of some rice varieties and concerns about the impact of El Niño on production of the crop.
That's up to inflated prices for low-income families, including in parts of the world like Senegal and Kenya.
Similarly, FAO's sugar index last year hit its highest level since 2011, rising 26,7 percent to 2022 amid concerns over low supplies. This happened after unusually dry weather that damaged the sugarcane harvest in India and Thailand, the world's second and third largest sugar exporters, respectively.
The sugar index improved in the final month of 2023, hitting a nine-month low on strong supply from Brazil, the biggest sugar exporter, and India, which reduced ethanol production needs.
The prices of meat, dairy products and vegetable oil fell compared to 2022, and the price of edible oil - the main export of the Black Sea region, which has seen large jumps since Russia invaded Ukraine - fell to its lowest level in three years, and the reason is the increase in global supplies, FAO said.
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