A new pandemic has struck the world: Food inflation

What is the News?

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Food prices have increased by almost 75% since mid-2020.

What has been the trend of Food Prices worldwide?

Food prices are increasing at an unprecedented rate worldwide.

For instance, the FAO World food price Index averaged 159.3 points in March 2022 breaking an earlier record of 137.6 points scaled 11 years ago in February 2011.

In India, rural consumer food prices have doubled in the year through March 2022.

Reason for High Food Prices: Two years of COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruption and the Russia-Ukraine war.

What is the impact of High Food Prices?

Impact on Food Relief Operations: The World Food Program(WFP) currently running one of its most expensive food relief operations has made a desperate appeal for further funding. This is because due to food inflation, FAO is paying $71 million (Rs 5.4 lakh crore) more per month now for the same operation level.

Impact on Poverty: The World Bank has warned that each percentage point increase in food prices would push an additional 10 million people into extreme poverty. 

Impact on poor and developing countries: The impact of food inflation is impacting the world’s poor and developing countries the most. This is because most of these countries are also food importers. For instance, some 50 countries, mostly poor countries, depend on Ukraine and Russia for wheat, a staple grain.

Source: This post is based on the article “A new pandemic has struck the world: Food inflation” published in Down To Earth on 19th April 2022.