Spiraling costs of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers could prevent producers from expanding production and worsen food security in poorer countries facing record import bills, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday. .
An index of input costs for farmers hit a record high and rose more than food prices last year, suggesting low prices in real terms for many farmers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report. .
“The findings do not bode well for a market-led supply response that could contain further increases in food prices for the 2022/23 season and possibly the next,” the FAO said.
Rising input costs, linked to high energy prices and supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coincided with record food prices this year, according to the FAO’s Global Food Commodities Index.
High prices are expected to boost the global food import bill by nearly 3% this year to a record $1.8 trillion, FAO predicts.
However, many developing countries were expected to reduce imported food volumes in response to rising prices. FAO projected that the least developed countries would reduce volumes so sharply that their overall import bill would also decline.
Source: CNN Brasil
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