What's New

The World Bank recently released the Africa Climate Business Plan , which aims to raise awareness of and accelerate resource mobilization for prioritized climate adaptation and low-carbon initiatives in Africa. Climate-related factors are involved in most of the shocks that keep or push African households into poverty; these include natural disasters, health shocks, crop losses and food price shocks.

An estimated one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, according to the FAO, costing the world an estimated $940 billion per year. Food loss and waste (FLW) also exacerbates food insecurity and malnutrition, depletes natural resources, and generates an estimated 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food loss and waste can therefore be a triple win: saving money for farmers, companies, and households, improving food security, and reducing environmental pressures on water, land, and the climate.

The June FAO Monthly Report on Food Price Trends saw mixed trends for international wheat prices in May, but prices generally remained lower than May 2015. The benchmark US wheat price averaged USD 193 per tonne in May; this was down four percent from April and 17 percent below its May 2015 level. The report cites that this drop in price is due mainly to improved global 2016-2017 production prospects. Prices for EU (France), Black Sea, and Argentina wheat all rose slightly in May (by 2.3, 4, and 1.6 percent, respectively), but as noted, remain well below May 2015 levels.

The FAO’s biannual report on global food markets was released this month. The report provides an overview of global trends for several main agricultural products, including wheat, coarse grains, rice, oilcrops, meat, and milk and fishery products, as well as a special feature on pulses. The report also provides a country-level review of major policy developments for grains, rice, oilcrops, meat, and dairy.

In December 2015, the World Trade Organization reached an agreement on the Nairobi Package , the latest set of rules governing global trade. The agreement represents some progress on several major agricultural and food issues that have held up previous negotiations, including export subsidies , food aid, public stockholding for food security purposes, special safeguard measures for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and the global cotton trade.