Tag: inflation

Food prices in the EU have risen dramatically in 2022 and the first half of 2023. The drivers of this increase originated in energy cost increases, aggravated by the effects of drought and animal disease outbreaks, but high global market prices in part due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine after February 2022 also helped to pull food prices higher and may have facilitated some element of profit-led inflation. Households have responded by buying less and trading down, with an increasing number turning to food banks to help make ends meet. Some limited steps were taken at EU level to help protect consumers from the effects of higher prices, but the important interventions have been at Member State level. These measures have primarily been focused on energy prices, but several Member States in addition directly tackled food price inflation either by lowering VAT rates on food products, by introducing temporary price controls on a basket of basic food products, or by providing food vouchers. Given the lags in price transmission along the food chain, food prices are likely to remain high for several more months. Lower energy and commodity prices, together with higher interest rates, should be reflected in lower ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious implications for food security around the world. The Russian-Ukrainian military conflict led to another surge in food prices. Central Asia, despite its diverse levels of economic development, has undoubtedly experienced a tangible shock from the food crisis of recent years. Food inflation in the region has many aspects to it. It was initially determined by global food price trends and the depreciation of national currencies during the pandemic period. Several national factors affected the local food situation: a series of adverse weather conditions, the different fiscal consequences of pandemic, and national strategic policies in support of agri-food exports. The countries of the region used all regulatory measures to protect their markets - export restrictions and export quotas, import subsidies and VAT zeroing, as well as subsidies for production and support to consumers. The forecasts for food prices in the region in 2023/2024 are not optimistic: prices will remain relatively high, and future changes largely depend on the still volatile geopolitical situation. The impact of COVID-19 may have long-term consequences for Central Asia. Over the coming 10-20 years, the development of agriculture in the region will be dictated by the need to address the growing ...

Food prices in Africa respond in familiar ways to changes in the global environment, but there are a number of unique characteristics that have to be accounted for in understanding how these prices play out in domestic markets. African countries are price takers in global agricultural commodity markets, and face high farm gate to consumer costs, which are a major driver of food price inflation. Furthermore, the uncertainty that accompanies poor policy formulation and implementation distorts markets and results in the skewing of investment to mitigate the negative impacts of policy uncertainty rather than to build future opportunities. Finally, the high levels of poverty as well as of inequality distort consumer markets, which are fragmented by these extremes, and which compete with informal markets and with own consumption. In this paper, we address the role that these factors play in understanding trends in food prices across a spectrum of commodities in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. These characteristics make it difficult to find relevant and timely data to help understand what is really going on in the real world.