Global Food Prices Are Still Rising – FAO

By Xinhua 

May 4, 2024

A vendor sells food at a market in Accra, capital of Ghana, March 15, 2023. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)

Global food prices rose for the second consecutive month in April, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported Friday. It was the first time they rose in consecutive months in more than two years, FAO said.

A significant increase in prices for meat, along with modest rises in prices for grains, cereals and vegetable oil offset larger declines in prices for dairy products and sugar.

The overall FAO Food Price Index gained 0.3 percent in April compared to March. A month ago, the broad index was 1.1 percent higher than in February, while previously it had declined for seven months in a row.

The last time the Food Price Index climbed in consecutive months was in February and March 2022, when higher energy prices pushed the index to its all-time high of 160.2 points.

Despite the increases over the last two months, the broad index only reached 119.1 points, far below its record high.

The FAO said the biggest increase in April was for meat prices, which climbed 1.6 percent. This was due in part to higher demand for poultry in the Middle East.

Grains and cereals, the largest component in the Food Price Index, saw 0.3 percent gains due to production worries in Europe and transportation disruptions caused by the situation in Ukraine.

Vegetable oil quotations inched higher because of unfavorable weather conditions in the Northern Hemisphere, the FAO said. The increase came after a dramatic 8.0 percent rise a month earlier.

Meanwhile, sugar prices were 4.4 percent lower, pushed by strong production levels in India and Thailand and good weather in Brazil.

Dairy prices slipped 0.3 percent after increasing in each of the previous six months. The FAO said currency valuations were one factor behind the decline.