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    • News
    • In the news: Food security

    New UN figures confirm global price hike

    The United Nations acknowledged it on Thursday (Aug. 9): Global food prices surged in July and are expected to rise further. This could put people already facing food insecurity in even more vulnerable positions.

    By Ivy Mungcal // 09 August 2012
    Global food prices increased in July and are expected to rise further, according to the United Nations. Photo by: Vincent Huang / CC BY

    The United Nations acknowledged it on Thursday (Aug. 9): Global food prices surged in July and are expected to rise further. This could put people already facing food insecurity in even more vulnerable positions.

    Corn prices, in particular, soared more than 23 percent due to the U.S. drought while wheat rose 19 percent because of poor crop expectations in Russia, the Food and Agriculture Organization said in its latest monthly price report. Global food prices for rice and dairy were mostly unchanged while those for meat declined.

    This price hike is likely to have a devastating impact on development countries that depend on food imports, Oxfam International said. These include Yemen and parts of North Africa and Latin America.  Humanitarian agencies are also expected to feel the effects of this price spike, which Oxfam said would inevitably put additional strain on the groups’ already overstretched resources.

    As Devex has reported, the World Food Program, for instance, will be unable to purchase the same amount of food supplies at a time when millions of people in the Sahel and other drought-stricken or conflict-afflicted regions rely on it for food aid.

    Here’s what Oxfam is proposing the international community can do to stem a further rise in food prices:

    • Eliminate biofuel subsidies.

    • End land grabs.

    • Invest in small-scale farmers.

    • Agree and adopt a binding agreement on climate change.

    Read more:

    • Drought in the US: Should aid agencies be concerned?

    • Is another global food crisis coming?

    • What the farm bill means for US food aid

    Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.

    • Agriculture & Rural Development
    • Environment & Natural Resources
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    About the author

    • Ivy Mungcal

      Ivy Mungcal

      As former senior staff writer, Ivy Mungcal contributed to several Devex publications. Her focus is on breaking news, and in particular on global aid reform and trends in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Before joining Devex in 2009, Ivy produced specialized content for U.S. and U.K.-based business websites.

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