14 DAY TRIAL // Only yesterday, The World Bank warned that food prices in July rose by as much as 10% when compared to those from the previous month, and that this increase needs to be linked to the severe droughts which recently hit both the US, and Eastern Europe.
Naturally, concerns are now raised with respect to how the poor will deal with these increased costs of living, more so if global agricultural practices will continue to be affected by harsh environmental conditions in the years to come.
Commenting on the findings of the latest Food Price Watch report, the President of The World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, made a case of how, “Food prices rose again sharply, threatening the health and well-being of millions of people.”
He further added that, “Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable, but so are people in other countries where the prices of grains have gone up abruptly.”
As explained on the official website for this organization, prices for maize and wheat went up by 25% each, whereas soybeans costs witnessed an increase of 17%. Interestingly enough, it seems that rice prices went down by about 4%.
What is worrying us even more is that, according to this organization, food prices have been rather “moody” throughout the past months, meaning that they increased in April, decreased in May and June, and went up back again in July.
These constant shifts in global food prices are first and foremost driven by environmental conditions, yet the organization argues that high officials must try and regulate nutrition costs and help control the ways in which production influences them. The end goal is to keep already vulnerable countries from becoming even poorer.
“We cannot allow these historic price hikes to turn into a lifetime of perils as families take their children out of school and eat less nutritious food to compensate for the high prices. Countries must strengthen their targeted programs to ease the pressure on the most vulnerable population, and implement the right policies,” stated Jim Yong Kim.