Global food imports to reach $2rtn - FAO

THE UN Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO) says food import costs globally are projected to reach nearly two trillion dollars this year, or higher than previously expected.

FAO, in a report published on Friday, stated that the new forecast of 1.94 trillion dollars would represent an all-time high and a 10 per cent increase over the record level of 2021.

However, the pace of increase is expected to slow down in response to higher food prices and the depreciation of currencies against the United states dollar, according to the latest Food outlook report.

Food prices rose worldwide following russia’s invasion of Ukraine but have somewhat decreased. Together, these countries produce around 30 per cent of all wheat exports, in addition to other grains and related foodstuffs.

Although the bulk of the increase in the global food import bill will be accounted for by richer countries, rising food costs have disproportionately affected poorer nations.

The aggregate costs for food imports for low-income countries is expected to remain almost unchanged, even though it is predicted to shrink by 10 per cent in volume terms, pointing to growing accessibility issues for these countries.

“These are alarming signs from a food security perspective, indicating importers are finding it difficult to finance rising international costs, potentially heralding an end of their resilience to higher international prices,” FAO stated.

The Food outlook report warns that existing differences are likely to become more pronounced.

High-income countries will continue to import from the entire spectrum of food products, while their developing world counterparts will increasingly focus on staple items. NAN