Poorest countries still grappling with rising food prices

Food prices are still a struggle for the world’s poorer countries even though this year’s cereal crop is forecast to be the second largest ever, the United Nations has warned.

Cereal, the most important staple food, is only expected to by fall three per cent this year from its record in 2008 which would still produce the second biggest crop. But cereal prices in developing countries are much higher than a year ago in 80 per cent of 58 developing nations says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. More than one billion people in the world will go hungry this year because of the combined effects of the global economic crisis and high food prices according to UN estimates. Those worst affected are poor people in urban areas and farmers who are not producing enough, because they have to buy food at local markets. "The message is that this food crisis is far from finished in developing countries, and this adds to a situation of financial crisis," said Liliana Balbi, of the FAO's Early Warning System.

Thirty-two countries – including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Sudan – are still experiencing food emergencies, and persistently high prices in developing nations are causing more hardship for millions already suffering from hunger and the global economic downturn. The amount of money sent home to families by relatives working abroad is also expected to drop, as work dries up. "There is already some information that, for example, remittances which have an important weight on incomes for poor households ... have declined tremendously," Ms Balbi told Reuters news agency.

Singling out hotspots of hunger in the world, the FAO says food rations have reportedly been halved in North Korea following reduced supplies, and more than 17 million people in East Africa still face serious food insecurity because of poor harvests and conflict. In southern Africa, high prices, slow imports and high demand for food during the peak hunger months have worsened the food security of around 8.7 million people. That includes more than five million people in Zimbabwe, where a cholera outbreak also threatens health and nutrition among vulnerable groups. In other parts of the world, prices are particularly elevated for rice in Asia, as well as for maize and wheat in Central and South America.

Volumes of imported food aid have also been lower. "The situation is improving, but all last year, the reserves were extremely low, and developed country exporters and donors were less generous," said Balbi. On a more positive note, the report forecasts that the cereal import bill for low-income countries with a food deficit will fall 27 percent from last year’s all-time high, thanks to lower international prices and shipping rates.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children