Global prices of food commodities rose for the fifth straight month in June to reach a four-year high of 4.2 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Office.
The FAO said in the latest update of its Food Price Index that the increase last month affected all commodity categories except vegetable oils.
The index is trade-weighted and tracks international market prices for the cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar commodity groups.
For June, the index averaged 163.4 points, up 4 percent or 6.7 points from the 156.7 points recorded in May.
The index was also now 1 percent below the 164.9 points reached in June 2015.
Even then, the FAO said there were prospects for improved food production for the year ahead.
Earlier this week, the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said the world had likely seen the end to a period of high agricultural prices, but vigilance was needed as the probability of a major price swing remained high.
The OECD and the FAO said in their Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025 report that inflation-adjusted agricultural commodity prices were expected to remain “relatively flat overall” in the next 10 years.
“Although we are now witnessing a period of lower agricultural prices, we need to remain alert as changes in markets can take place rapidly,” OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said in a statement.
“The key priority for governments in the current context is to implement policies that will increase agricultural productivity in a coherent and sustainable way,” Gurria said. “Getting our agricultural policies right is critical to end hunger and undernourishment in the decades to come.”
The report shows that, globally, the increased demand for food and feed for a growing and more affluent population was projected to be mostly met through productivity gains.