Growing food crises with spiking prices will have an impact on poor and food insecure populations writes the Nation (Nigeria), quoting a recent analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) which notes that food inflation poses larger wasting risks for children of poor and landless rural households, exacerbating existing inequalities.
According to IFPRI, food prices have become extremely volatile over the past two decades. “We are now in the midst of a third international price spike in 15 years, as food prices surged upwards in late 2021 due to the tailwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic, before skyrocketing in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By March 2022, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) international food price index had reached an all-time high, 116% greater than its 2000 value—higher even than the peaks reached in the 2007-2008 crisis.”
Increases in international food prices are clearly a threat to the welfare of the poor, especially after the severe impacts of COVID-19 on poverty and malnutrition. The study recommended that food policies should aim to achieve greater stability in food prices and improve the affordability of nutritious foods.
Read the full article here and find the original analysis by IFPRI’s Derek Heady and Marie Ruel here.
