Blog

What's New

How do food and fertilizer price spikes and volatility impact Central America and the Caribbean?

Feb 11th, 2025 • by Manuel Hernandez, Francisco Ceballos, and Maria Lucia Berrospi

Recurring spikes and high volatility in international food and fertilizer prices (Figure 1) have triggered economic impacts around the world over the past two decades. These major shocks include the global food price crises of 2007-2008 and 2010-2011, the market disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. In the months after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, real global food prices reached the highest levels on record in more than six decades, while key global fertilizer prices more than doubled over those of the previous year.

Figure 1

The Impact of Fertilizer Price Spikes on Fertilizer Use and Farm Profitability

Feb 3rd, 2025 • by Sara Gustafson

Fertilizer use plays an important role in increasing agricultural production and ensuring food availability and economic accessibility: two critical components of overall food security. When global fertilizer prices skyrocketed in 2021-2022, those spikes brought with them concerns about drastically reduced fertilizer application and subsequent negative impacts on food production, prices, and food security.

How conflict drives hunger: Six channels through the food system

Jan 27th, 2025 • by Steven Were Omamo

Much has been said and written of late about the linkages between conflict and hunger. There is good reason for this: 65% of the world’s acutely food-insecure people live in conflict-affected countries. Typically, two claims are made about the conflict-hunger linkage. First, that conflict breeds hunger. This claim is supported by so much evidence that in 2018 the United Nations adopted Resolution 2417 recognizing the direct impacts of armed conflict on food insecurity and strongly condemning the use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of warfare in conflict situations.

How Trump tariffs might impact countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Jan 22nd, 2025 • by Joseph Glauber and Juan Pablo Gianatiempo

Donald Trump’s return to the White House likely also signals the return of the unilateral trade policies that characterized his first term and precipitated trade wars between the United States and many of its trading partners, most notably China. As a candidate, the president-elect threatened a number of adverse trade actions including raising tariffs on all imports by 10%-20%. He has warned a number of specific countries as well—suggesting he would consider 60% tariffs on China and 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.