What's New

The FAO has released the latest version of its Food Price Index . The June Index was almost 2 points below May levels, but remained 11 points higher than in June 2012. The slight decline came mainly from sugar and dairy prices.

The Cereals Price Index also declined slightly by 2.5 points in June on expectations of bumper global crops. Tight coarse grain supplies are expected to continue until harvests in the fall, however, and the Index remains 14 points above its June 2012 level.

Last week, India’s executive branch passed the historic National Food Security Bill (NFSB), an act that will dramatically increase the number of people who receive food subsidies from the government. While India’s existing food distribution system, the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), is already enormous, the NFSB proposes to increase coverage to 75% of India’s rural population and 50% of the urban population – a whopping 800 million people.

The latest FEWS Net Monthly Price Watch was released today. The report saw stable global rice and wheat prices in May, although wheat prices remain at high levels. Rice production is on track to surpass last year's record harvests, and rice prices are expected to remain relatively stable for the rest of the year. Global maize prices increased on delayed planting in North America, caused mainly by poor weather conditions. Closing global maize stocks are expected to be tight despite record South American harvests.

A new initiative, the Community for Zero Hunger, was launched this week. It will identify the greatest gaps that remain in reducing hunger and malnutrition, and leverage the private sector to help fill those gaps at scale.

The 2013 G8 Summit is fast approaching, and development actors around the world are pressing for malnutrition to take center stage at the talks. In the lead-up to the summit, The Lancet , one of the world's most prestigious medical journals, has released a new series on maternal and child malnutrition . This latest series continues the discussion generated by the journal's 2008 series on nutrition, which culminated in the creation of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement and recent increased focus on the importance of a child's first 1,000 days.