According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), global food stock levels fell, and the FAO food price index averaged 113.3 points in January, up by 4.3% from December 2020 and reaching its highest since July 2014.

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities including cereals, vegetable oil, dairy, meat, and sugar. The FAO Food Price Index and FAO Cereal Supply and Demand Brief released on Feb 4, 2021 are available here. 

Since the new coronavirus infection was declared a pandemic in March 2020, the Pick Up corner has featured international discourse about whether protectionism by food exporters will bring the 2008 food crisis back. During the corona crisis, international organizations provided information on sufficient food stockpiling and harvest expectations at an early stage, and in contrast to the there was no panic due to the chain of protectionism like the 2008 food crisis. On the other hand, in a global society where people around the world rely more or less on international trade for food security, it is necessary to systematically understand all factors that affect the world food supply and demand and food stockpile levels such as pandemic movement restrictions, extreme weather  phenomena, livestock infectious diseases, labor conditions in major exporting countries, socio-political trends of major importing countries, trends in investment money, interest rates and exchange rates due to international crude oil markets and monetary easing etc. The projected changes in the quantity and quality of food demand in emerging countries will affect Japan's food security, which depends on imported food, including almost 100% of livestock feed, through its impact on the international food market.

As part of Japan's science and technology diplomacy, JIRCAS has been conducting joint research with local partners on sustainable agricultural technology development in developing countries for over 50 years. We will continue to provide systematic information on trends affecting food and nutrition security in Japan and around the world. 
 

References
http://www.fao.org/giews/country-analysis/external-assistance/en/
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1372486/icode/
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/csdb/en/
http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb2578en

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki (Research Strategy Office)