FAO Food Price Index

FAO Food Price Index

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Economy

In news 

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO), World food prices rose for a seventh consecutive month in December, with all the major categories, barring sugar, posting gains last month. 

Key takeaways 

• The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
• It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices [cereal, vegetable, dairy, meat and sugar], weighted with the average export shares.
• It averaged 107.5 points in December versus 105.2 in November. 
• For the whole of 2020, the benchmark index averaged 97.9 points, a three-year high and a 3.1% increase from 2019.

Important value additions

FAO

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. 
• Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to “let there be bread”. 
• Headquarters: Rome, Italy
• Founded: 16 October 1945, Quebec City, Canada
• Parent organization: United Nations Economic and Social Council