The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has roiled commodity markets and threatens global food security. Ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors have already driven up food prices. Poor harvests in South America, strong global demand, and supply chain issues have reduced grain and oilseed inventories and driven prices to their highest levels since 2011-2013.

Food prices are skyrocketing around the world. In January, international prices for major food items climbed to a level near the heights of the global food price crises of 2007-08 and 2010-11, according to the FAO Food Price Index (Figure 1). The spike has raised concerns over the potential for another global food crisis, increasing hunger among the poor and, possibly, social unrest around the world.

In December 2021, the FAO Food Price Index fell by 0.9 percent from the previous month, with vegetable oils and sugar prices both seeing significant declines. However, in 2021 overall, the Index reached a 10-year high and was up by 28.1 percent above 2020 levels.

Fruits and vegetables are a key source of micronutrients in diets, and adequate fruit and vegetable consumption can help stave off non-communicable diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume 400 grams of fruits and vegetables every day. Yet globally, fruit and vegetable consumption often falls far below that target, and research suggests consumption is particularly low in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The FAO Food Price Index continued to rise in November, up 1.2 percent from the previous month and 27.3 percent from November 2020. This increase, driven mostly by rising cereal and dairy prices, brought the Index to its highest level since June 2011.

In 2018, African swine fever (ASF), a deadly hemorrhagic disease found in pigs, was reported for the first time in China. By mid-2019, the disease had infected hundreds of millions of pigs—anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of the country’s swine population. Millions of pigs were culled in an effort to slow the spread of the disease, resulting in a drastic reduction in the volume of Chinese pork produced.

The FAO Food Price Index rose 3 percent in October to reach its highest level since July 2011. The October Index stood 31.3 percent higher than its October 2020 levels. Last month’s increase was driven primarily by cereal (particularly wheat) and vegetable oil prices.

Alarming levels of hunger and food insecurity are on the rise across the globe. According to the September 2021 mid-year update to the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), an estimated 161 million people in 42 countries/territories have faced Crisis-level (IPC/CH Phase 3) food insecurity or higher. This number is up from the estimated 155 million acutely food-insecure people reported by the GRFC for 2020.

The FAO Food Price Index continued to rise in September, driven by increasing cereal and vegetable oil prices. The Index was up 1.2 percent from August 2021 and 32.8 percent from September 2020.

After declining in June and July, the FAO Food Price Index rose quickly again in August and reached 32.9 percent higher than August 2020 levels. The increase was driven by rising cereal and vegetable oil prices, as well as by rises in sugar prices.