Food Prices Are Falling. Why Is There Still a Hunger Crisis?
Cost is just one part of the equation: war, civil unrest and climate disasters all drive starvation and hinder recovery.
Egypt is wrestling with higher food prices.
Photographer: Islam Safwat/Bloomberg
As quickly as it blew up, the food crisis of 2022 appears to be receding.
Red spring wheat rose to nearly $13 a bushel in March, prompting the world’s biggest wheat importer, Egypt, to devalue its currency. It’s now trading around $8, a fall of more than a third. Indonesia halted exports of palm oil in April in the face of a similar price spike. Prices are now down more than 40% from the peak. Corn prices fell by nearly a quarter since the start of May. Sugar and arabica coffee beans have hit respective one-year and nine-month lows in the past few weeks.