Hurricane of Hunger: Buffeting the storm of food inflation & security

“The world must do everything possible to avert a hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Global food prices are rising rapidly – caught in a perfect storm of lingering supply bottlenecks from Covid-19, the Russia-Ukraine war and unfavourable weather conditions. These disruptions are pressuring some governments to restrict food exports, exacerbating shortages and price volatility in export markets.

Food security has become a key concern for consumers and governments, not least because food prices feed directly into consumer price indices (CPI). In the coming months and years, fractured supply chains for a wide variety of food products ranging from grain to edible oils and meat will have significant downstream impact on inflationary expectations, consumption patterns and economic growth.