UN says soaring food prices likely to persist

ROME – Soaring food prices that have sparked unrest across the globe are likely to persist despite an expected increase in production, threatening millions of people worldwide who live on a dollar or less a day, a U.N. agency said Friday.

Prices of bread, rice, milk, oil and other basic foodstuffs have sharply increased in the past months in many developing countries, according to a report by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization. Prices of wheat and rice have doubled compared to last year, while those of maize are more than a third higher.


…FAO said that farmers in developing countries should be granted better access to fertilizers, seeds and animal feed to increase local food production.

Surging food prices, further stoked by rising fuel costs, have triggered protests around the world in recent days. The increases hit poor people hardest, as food represents as much as 60-80 percent of consumer spending in developing nations, compared to about 10-20 percent in industrialized countries, the U.N. agency said.

AP