What's New

The FAO Food Price Index continued its decline for the third month in a row, falling by 1.8 percent in April. The prices of all commodities covered by the Index declined in April, with the exception of meat; however, the Index remains 10 percent higher than its April 2016 level.

Food security and food prices are driven by a complex range of interacting factors, including weather, crop production levels, trade, and conflict. For several years, IFPRI has been studying whether and how another factor influences food prices: the media.

The World Bank recently released its 2017 Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals , which tracks progress on global and country-level progress toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the UNDP in 2015. The atlas breaks down each of the 17 SDGs and uses maps and other data visualizations to illustrate trends, global-level and country-level analysis, and comparisons between countries.

The FAO’s monthly report on food price trends was released on April 10. The bulletin reports on recent food price developments over the past month at the global, regional, and country levels, with a focus on developing countries, and provides early warnings for high country-level food prices that may negatively affect food security.

The FAO Food Price Index fell nearly five points in March, driven by drops in the indices for all commodities except meat. The March Index remained 20 points above its year-earlier level, however.

The Cereal Price Index fell 2.7 points in March and was essentially the same as its March 2016 level. Global cereal supplies remain plentiful, and overall production prospects are favorable for the coming season.