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Food Prices Steady in February
The latest FAO Food Price Index , released last week, was unchanged from January levels, remaining steady at 210 points. This is five points lower than the levels seen in February 2012. The Cereals Price Index and Oils/Fats Price Index remained generally steady as well, experiencing a 1 percent drop and 0.4 percent rise, respectively. The slight decline seen for cereals is due mainly to improved wheat and maize prospects in the US.
Arab Spatial Provides Interactive Look at Food Security in the Arab World
The great hope that rose from the Arab awakening is being continually tested—not only by ongoing political unrest, but also by lesser known forces: volatile food prices and supplies, and grinding poverty. Translating hope to better lives rests on effective policy—and effective policy rests on access to adequate and accurate information, also in scarce supply in the region. For instance, only around half of the region’s countries make poverty figures publicly available, and the frequency and accuracy of those figures varies widely.
GIEWS Global Food Price Monitor Released
The latest GIEWS Global Food Price Monitor, released on Monday, cites slight declines in export prices for international wheat and maize in January. The benchmark US wheat price dropped 3 percent from December, largely on lower US exports and large supplies of wheat feed on the international market. Wheat's decline was somewhat limited, however, by continued drought conditions in the US and a weakening dollar. According to the report, domestic wheat prices in both importing and exporting countries remains high.
Global Experts Meet to Discuss Food Prices, Price Volatility
Cross-posted from University of Bonn's Center for Development Research
Summary of the international expert consultation organized by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) held at ZEF in Bonn, Germany on January 31 and February 1, 2013.
By Joachim von Braun (ZEF) and Maximo Torero (IFPRI)
FAO Sees Steady Food Prices, Warns of Tight Supplies
After a volatile few months following the US drought, global food prices stabilized in January, according to the FAO's latest edition of the Food Price Index. The Index averaged 210 points in January, unchanged from a revised December average.