What's New

On Friday November 4, G20 leaders issued a Cannes Summit Final Declaration , wrapping up the 2011 G20 Summit. Among the issues addressed at this year's summit was the challenge posed by food price volatility and its impact on global food security, as well as the need to create an international emergency humanitarian food reserve system. In this final statement, G20 leaders welcomed the plan of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) to set up a regional emergency food reserve system as a pilot program.

FAO GIEWS released today the November 2011 Final Food Outlook, a comprehensive analysis of the global agricultural market situation. According to the report, the outlook for the agricultural commodities markets remains difficult to predict; despite improved supply prospects and weakening demand for several important commodities, volatile prices and the uncertain global economic situation continue to play a part in high food prices.

FEWS NET has released the latest global price watch, citing declining food prices in Central America, Haiti, and West Africa. Despite ongoing harvests in Kenya, Somalia, and other regions in the Horn of Africa, the region continues to experience extremely high prices. Meanwhile, conflict in Sudan and South Sudan is threatening food security in the area, as are trade restrictions and poor harvest predictions.

Download the full report and annex

Files:

full report
annex

In a long-awaited move, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on October 18 approved limits on trading in the commodities markets . Specifically, the new rules limit the number of commodity contracts that any investor can hold in agriculture, energy, or metals contracts. The trade limits, originally mandated in the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which was passed in July 2010, stemmed from worldwide concerns that commodity index and other funds contributed to the 2008 surge in food and fuel prices, and could again be contributing to recent price spikes.

The ongoing crisis in the Horn of Africa has shown that the challenge of food insecurity is alive and well. The 2011 G20 meetings have paid particular attention to the issues of high food prices, food price volatility, and food insecurity. G20 leaders have involved leading international institutions, such as the FAO, IFAD, WFP, and IFPRI, and have established several action plans to address these important issues.

Download the scoping report on the Agricultural Market Information System, designed to improve food market transparency and information-sharing.