Blog Category

GIEWS Crop Prospects and Food Situation

FAO Food Price Index Reaches 17-Month Low

Jun 5th, 2020 • by Sara Gustafson

The FAO Food Price Index plunged to a 17-month low in May, driven in large part by sustained negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices across all sub-indices declined with the exception of sugar prices.

The Quest for Safer Foods: COVID-19 and Dairy Value Chains in Ethiopia

May 15th, 2020 • by Agajie Tesfaye (EIAR), Yetimwork Habte (ESSP-PSI), and Bart Minten (ESSP-IFPRI)

This post originally appeared on IFPRI's Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) blog.

The share of households consuming dairy products in Addis Ababa has dropped by 11 percentage points since the COVID-19 crisis, seemingly linked to perceived risks of consuming dairy products. All income groups declined their consumption, except for the richest quintile where the share of consuming households changed little.

New COVID-19 Food Price Monitor tracks warning signs of stress in local markets

May 5th, 2020 • by Manuel Hernandez, Soonho Kim, Brendan Rice, and Rob Vos

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org.

Food systems are complex and the disruptions caused by COVID-19 are varied. Global analyses of trends in food supply, trade, and prices are useful. However, as Manuel Hernandez, Soonho Kim, Brendan Rice, and Rob Vos emphasize, daily price data in multiple countries and markets are needed to provide information to identify and respond to more specific local and national shocks—and a new Food Price Tracker tool is now available to meet this demand.—John McDermott, series co-editor and Director, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).