Author: FAO (April 2009)
High food prices persist in developing countries despite an improved global cereal supply situation and a sharp decline in international food prices, states FAO's Crop Prospects and Food Situation report. This will create further hardship for millions of poor people already suffering from hunger and undernourishment.
Cereal prices in developing countries remain generally very high - in some cases at record levels, the FAO report points out. Worst affected are the urban poor and food-deficit farmers who are dependent on the market to access food. An analysis of domestic food prices for 58 developing countries shows that in around 80 percent of the cases food prices are higher than 12 months ago. According to the report, the situation is most dramatic in sub-Saharan Africa. Domestic prices of rice are much higher than 12 months earlier in all countries analyzed, while prices of maize, millet and sorghum are higher in 89 percent of the countries compared to a year earlier.
The report notes that food insecurity prevails in parts of Asia, especially in parts of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, amid chronic food insecurity, food rations have reportedly been halved following reduced supplies. In Eastern Africa more than 17 million people face serious food insecurity due to poor harvests, conflict or a combination of these factors. For example, in Somalia, an estimated 3.2 million people currently require food assistance. In addition, in Zimbabwe over 5 million are affected by the lack of food security, where the ongoing outbreak of cholera poses a serious threat to the health and nutrition of vulnerable groups.
Read the report online:
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