Food prices around the world have reached their highest mark since a United Nations agency started tracking them in 1990, marking yet another fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The organization's Food and Agriculture Organization said in a new report released Friday, which measures the change in international foods monthly for different commodities, that its Food Price Index has soared in items like cereals and meats since the war started.
The FAO Food Price Index jumped 17.9 points from February to March, averaging 159.3 points last month.
The report said some items, such as the cereal price index can be tied directly to the Ukrainian conflict. That index rose by 17.1% in March.
"The Russian Federation and Ukraine, combined, accounted for around 30% and 20% of global wheat and maize exports, respectively, over the past three years," the report said. "World wheat prices soared by 19.7% during the month, exacerbated by concerns over crop conditions in the United States."
The agency said maize prices posted a 19.1% month-on-month increase, hitting a record high along with those of barley and sorghum.
FAO said the war forced them to lower its forecast for world trade in cereals in the current marketing year to 469 million tons, a contraction from the 2020/21 level.
"Expectations point to the European Union and India increasing wheat exports, while Argentina, India and the United States shipping more maize, partially compensating for the loss of exports from the Black Sea region," the report said.
The FAO said the sugar price index increased by 6.7%, driven by higher crude oil prices while the meat price index grew by 4.8% to reach an all-time high, led by surging pig meat prices related to a shortfall of slaughter pigs in Western Europe.
The dairy price index rose 2.6% over the past month and 23.6% higher than in March 2021, led by jumps in butter and milk powders, especially from Asian markets.
