What's New

The latest FAO Food Price Index, released last week, fell nearly four points from July and nearly 11 points from August 2012. This was the fourth consecutive month in which global food prices dropped.

The Cereals Price Index declined by 16.4 points from July, and fell a whopping 49.4 points from August of last year. Strong growth in global cereal production, along with a significant recovery of global maize supplies, is behind this substantial drop. The Oils/Fats Price Index also fell by 5.7 points from July, the third consecutive drop.

When a natural disaster strikes, it takes its toll in lives, homes, and entire cities. What’s more, the costs of reconstruction are not strictly financial—it can also drain other resources geared toward long-term development outcomes such as capacity building, and food and nutrition security. Despite the outpouring of financial aid that often follows major catastrophes, the slow and unreliable funneling of those funds does little to help those directly affected and, in fact, hurts long-term development by redirecting resources from effective programs.

FEWS Net has issued an alert for East Africa, stating that a delayed start to the annual June-September rains is threatening harvests throughout the region. While rainfall has improved in recent weeks, FEWS estimates that normal rainfall would need to not only continue for the remainder of the season but extend past the normal rainy season in order for crops to fully recover. In large areas of Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, total rainfall has been 20-50 percent lower than average.

High food prices affect poor populations in a variety of ways. While households that only consume food suffer as a result of rising food prices, households that also produce food can actually benefit from price increases. But there is another, less recognized avenue through which high food prices can impact the poor: rural wages. The lion's share of the world's poor relies on agricultural jobs to make a living; whether or not agricultural wages increase as a result of rising food prices therefore has significant implications for how those price increases will help or hurt.

The USDA released its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report today. The WASDE report provides monthly comprehensive forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global crops, supplied by the USDA. Crops covered include wheat, coarse grains, rice, and oilseeds. This report can explain past and current global commodities trends, as well as predict trends for the coming year. This month's report estimates 2013/2014 global wheat production at a record 705.4 million tons. Global wheat supply estimated were also raised by 7.5 million tons this month.