World food prices fell slightly in April after reaching a record level in March, but remain at high levels due to the ukrainian warThe UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced this Friday.
A “modest decline in the prices of vegetable oil and cereals” caused the food price index of the FAOwhich follows the monthly variation of international prices of a basic food basket, fell 0.8% compared to March.
The 5.7% decline in the FAO Vegetable Oils Index in April pulled down the average, but prices remain at a historically high level due to “uncertainty over exportable supplies” of palm oil from Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter.
Since the Indonesian government announced an embargo ten days ago, the price of the world’s most consumed oil has risen nearly 14 percent.
The FAO Cereal Index dipped slightly 0.7% in April, thanks to a 3% drop in global maize prices.
Wheat prices continue to suffer from the closure of Ukrainian ports and weather uncertainties for the US crop, rising 0.2 percent.
This slight decline in the index is a welcome relief, especially for low-income countries, but food prices remain close to their recent highs,” said Máximo Torero Cullen, an economist at the FAO.
The Global Network against Food Crises, of which FAO forms part together with the European Union and the World Food Programsaid on Wednesday that nearly 200 million people were acutely food insecure before the start of the ukrainian war.