World food prices, 36 per cent above the levels a year ago, remain volatile and threaten to push more people below the extreme poverty line.
According to the latest issue of World Bank's Food Price Watch, rise in prices had already driven around 44 million people into poverty since last June, and a 10 per cent increase in the prices will result in an additional 10 million people drifting below the $1.25-a-day extreme poverty line.
A further 30 per cent rise in the prices will lead to 34 million more people going below the poverty line. The World Bank has estimated that there are about 1.2 billion people worldwide living below the extreme poverty line.
The higher food prices of late are attributed partly to the spike in fuel costs in the wake of events in West Asia and North Africa. The crude oil price increased by 21 per cent in the first three months of 2011. Other reasons cited are severe weather events in key grain exporting countries, export restrictions and low global stocks.
The price of maize has gone up by 74 per cent over the last one year, that of wheat increased by 69 per cent, soyabeans 36 per cent and sugar by 21 per cent. Besides, prices of vegetables, meats, fruits and cooking oil continued to rise in many countries.
Measures suggested by the report to reduce the impact of high food prices on the poor include targeting social assistance and nutritional programmes to the poorest, removing grain export restrictions, improving the capacity of countries to manage volatility through financial instruments, better weather forecasting, more investments in agriculture, adoption of new technologies and efforts to address climate change.