Global Food Prices Hit Two-Year High as 340 Million Face Hunger Crisis

Global food prices have climbed to a two-year high according to the latest UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, driven by severe drought across major wheat and rice producing regions, ongoing Red Sea shipping disruptions, and geopolitical instability curtailing grain exports. The FAO Food Price Index surged 4.2% month-on-month, with cereals, vegetable oils, and dairy registering the sharpest increases. Several low-income nations are already reporting critical shortages, prompting emergency appeals to international aid agencies.

The World Food Programme estimates that 340 million people across 70 countries are now facing acute food insecurity — the highest number on record. Governments across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are scrambling to subsidise staple foods and boost domestic production, while international organisations urge wealthy nations to accelerate aid pledges and reform agricultural trade policies before the situation escalates into a full humanitarian crisis.