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Food costs in turmoil-hit countries soaring 'outrageously' - UN

16 ottobre 2018 | 11.24
LETTURA: 3 minuti

Food costs in turmoil-hit countries soaring 'outrageously' - UN

In dozens of conflict wracked or politically unstable countries, spiralling food prices are putting the hope of a nutritious meal beyond the reach of millions, the United Nations World Food Programme warned on Tuesday.

“Affordable food and peaceful societies go hand in hand,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

“But millions of our brothers and sisters enjoy neither; the presence of near-constant conflict makes it almost impossible to cook the simplest meal.”

The findings are contained in fresh research WFP released to coincide with World Food Day

Now in its second edition, WFP’s Counting the Beans index covers 52 developing nations. It aims to give consumers in wealthy, industrialized countries an idea of the share of daily income needed to secure a basic plate of food in poorer parts of the world.

The index assumes an identical per capita average income across the globe and calculates what percentage of it people must spend for a 600kcal home-cooked meal. It then works out an “as-experienced” price against that standardized income. Daily GDP per capita figures have been used – or, where not available or reliable, personal income numbers based on remittance records and other sources.

Taking food costs in New York, USA as a reference point, WFP has found that a resident of of the city might spend 1.20 dollars to make a simple soup or stew (for example beans or lentils, a handful of rice, plus water and oil). By contrast, a citizen of South Sudan would need to fork out the NY equivalent of 348.36 dollars for the meal - more than two days’ income. An inhabitant of northeast Nigeria would have to spend the NY equivalent of 222.05 dollars for the same meal and a Yemeni national, 62.37 dollars, WFP said.

South Sudan, northeast Nigeria and Yemen are locations where famine is a looming threat, WFP noted. In all three, rising food costs closely track the trajectory of conflicts. For many people living there, survival would not be possible without assistance from WFP and other partners, the UN agency underlined.

"Some of the numbers in this year’s index illustrate the real and personal cost of conflict and hunger,” Beasley said.

“They should shock and outrage everyone. We must do everything in our power to reduce conflict and rebuild economies, so markets can thrive and communities can prosper.”

On a more positive note, food affordability measured by the index has actually improved in many countries since 2017, said WFP. The reason vary from strong economic growth to greater stability, a better rainy season, or – as in the case of southern Africa – humanitarian assistance helping offset the effects of severe drought, the agency said.

Despite these improvements, food costs often remain intensely disproportionate in relation to income, This is the situation across much of Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and - to a lesser degree - of Latin America, WFP reported.

Among the countries surveyed, Peru tops the list with the most affordable plate of food outside rich countries, at just 1.6 percent of per capita income versus 0.6 percent in New York – the equivalent of 3.44 dollars. Laos and Jordan are close runners-up, WFP concluded.

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