DILI, 17 november, 2021 (TATOLI)-The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) import bill is considered a big challenge for poor countries around the world.
FAO in its report said the global food trade has increased rapidly and is poised to reach a record in terms of both volume and value by 2021.
“While the global food trade has demonstrated remarkable resilience to disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid rise in prices of food and energy commodities poses significant challenges for poor countries and consumers, who spend a large part of their income on these necessities, said FAO in its new Food Outlook.
The FAO predicts the global food import bill will hit an all-time high in 2021 and surpass $1.75 trillion, marking a 14 percent increase from a year earlier and 12 percent higher than its previous forecast in June 2021.
This increase was driven by higher prices for internationally traded food commodities and a threefold increase in shipping costs. Developing regions account for 40 percent of the total and their aggregate food import bills are expected to increase by 20 percent compared to 2020.
Faster growth is expected for Low-Income Countries, due to the higher costs of higher volumes of food imports. Developing regions faced sharp increases in the prices of staples such as cereals, animal fats, vegetable oils, and vegetable oils, while high-value foods, such as fruits and vegetables, fishery products, and beverages drove most of the gains for developed regions.
Published twice a year, the Food Outlook offers FAO’s overview of supply and market demand trends for the world’s major foodstuffs, including cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy, and fish. It also looks at trends in the futures market and shipping costs for food commodities.
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