Thursday, October 18, 2012

WFP predicts rising food costs, shortages

The World Food Programme has released its latest Global Food Security Update.
Here’s a summary of the comments on Honduras.
HONDURAS: Drought, has caused crop losses for the first harvest, which began in August. The most affected areas are located in southern part of the dry corridor, in the departments of Valle, Choluteca, Southern Paradise and Francisco Morazan. Increasing food prices and poor agricultural production are constraining household food access. The affected vulnerable population is currently dependent on food purchases. Due to crop losses, white maize retail and wholesale prices rose by 14 percent and 13 percent respectively in July. However, during the same month, the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) behavior continues to indicate a temporary slowdown in inflation caused mostly by a decrease in fuel prices. It is expected that prices will decrease over the next few months due to the arrival of main harvest season. On the other hand, the sharp increase of maize and wheat prices in the USA might influence domestic prices in the coming months. Below-normal rains are forecasted for the next three months, which could affect the second harvest in the fourth quarter. Under that scenario, the lean season would start earlier than normal in 2013.
The entire report is here.

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