More food aid needed to end starvation in Gaza despite 'modest' raise - WFP
The World Food Programme has called for more food aid to be allowed in to Gaza to quell widespread starvation....
A growing number of extreme climate events are inflating food prices around the world, with new research showing that key crops such as coffee, cocoa, rice and vegetables have seen sharp increases due to weather shocks.
The study, titled “Climate extremes, food price spikes, and their wider societal risks”, was carried out by a team of European researchers analysing dozens of climate-linked disruptions in the global food supply over the past three years.
The report shows that the type and extent of price hikes vary based on both the crop and the region affected. For instance, a severe drought across southern Europe between 2022 and 2023 led to a 50% increase in olive oil prices within a year across the European Union. Meanwhile, intense rainfall in the United Kingdom caused potato prices to surge 22% in early 2024.
East Asia was particularly hard hit by heat waves. Cabbage prices soared 70% in South Korea in September 2024. Japan saw vegetable prices jump 48%, and Chinese produce rose 30% during the summer months.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s robusta coffee doubled in price in July 2024 after a heat wave earlier that year. A similar drought in Indonesia pushed rice prices up 16%. In South Asia, floods in Pakistan’s rural areas in August 2022 caused a 50% jump in food prices, while a heat wave in May 2024 triggered dramatic increases in Indian onion and potato prices, at 89% and 81% respectively.
Australia saw one of the most extreme cases when floods in 2022 caused lettuce prices to spike by 300%. In South Africa, heat waves in March 2024 drove up corn prices by 36%. Ethiopia's food prices rose 40% in 2023 due to drought the previous year.
In the United States, drought in California and Arizona in 2022 - two states responsible for more than 40% of the country’s vegetable output - resulted in an 80% increase in vegetable prices by November that year.
The impact has not been limited to national markets. Brazil, the world’s top coffee exporter, experienced a drought in 2023 that drove up global coffee prices by 55% in August 2024. A prolonged dry spell in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which produce 60% of the world’s cocoa, caused cocoa prices to rise nearly 300% by April 2024.
Food security experts say such price spikes disproportionately affect poorer households. “Food inflation driven by climate impacts is pushing vulnerable communities into deeper hardship,” the report warned.
Higher food prices also contribute to overall inflation, particularly in developing economies where food makes up a larger share of household spending. This can put pressure on national healthcare systems and increase the demand for public assistance.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
Kuwait says oil prices will likely stay below $72 per barrel as OPEC monitors global supply trends and U.S. policy signals. The remarks come during market uncertainty fueled by new U.S. tariffs on India and possible sanctions on Russia.
Pakistan’s eastern towns of Chiniot and Hafizabad are at risk of devastating floods if an irrigation barrage on a major upstream river collapses after torrential rains pushed it beyond capacity, officials warned on Thursday.
Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain have signed an agreement with China to jointly develop a $220 million solar energy project.
A deadly landslide triggered by heavy rain struck a major Hindu pilgrimage route in Jammu, killing at least 30 people and disrupting communication across the region.
Wind farm developer Orsted's plan to raise much-needed capital is at risk following a U.S. order to halt construction of a near-complete project, and the Danish group's share price could come under pressure on Monday, analysts said.
Brazil’s government has ruled out subsidising hotel costs for delegates attending the COP30 climate summit in Belém this November, despite growing concerns over soaring accommodation prices.
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