The hotspots where food prices are getting people worried
The world is racing to vaccinate its way out of the coronavirus pandemic ,but another challenge has already emerged for some more vulnerable governments and economies.
Global food prices are at the highest in more than six years driven by a jump in the cost of everything from soybeans to palm oil because of vulnerable supply chains and adverse weather
Some banks warn the world is heading into a commodities “supercycle”.Inflation is putting another squeeze on consumers hurting from pandemic-induced recession and-in some places-falling currencies.
In India farmers revolted against efforts to bring prices down.Russia and Argentina have restricted crop shipments to suppress price at home.Even rich countris like the United Arab Emirates are considering possible price caps on some foods.
"The price spikes are destabilizing because they induce a lot of hardship on communites and households“said Cullen Hendrx,non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Enconomics,a Washington based think tank,“The implications are going to last longer and beyond the pandamic”
As ever,the impact is disproportionate.In rich countries,it might just be a case of swithing product band.In the poorest nations ,it can mean the difference between sending a child to school or out to earn money.
Yet it’s in the largest milddle-income countries where the effects may resonate most for the world.They are some of the most populous places on the planet and where food costs make up a larger share of consumer price baskets.