Food price watch

Global prices of food in July 2011 remain significantly higher than their levels in July 2010 and close to the 2008 peak levels, with the World Bank Food Price Index increasing by 33 percent in the last year. Prices for the period April to July 2011 have declined slightly from their peak in February, although prices remain volatile for specific commodities such as rice, maize, and wheat. Prospects for the overall supply of food have improved since April 2011, but several sources of uncertainty remain.

The annual price changes in maize in the 12 months up to June 2011 ranged from increases of more than 100 percent in Kampala (Uganda) to reductions of 19 percent in Port-au- Prince (Haiti) and Mexico City. Domestic prices of some staples have increased sharply in Central and South America and East Africa.

The acute malnutrition rate in some areas of Somalia has exceeded 40 percent among children under five years of age. The disaster has hit the most vulnerable. In Somalia, out of 3.7 million people in crisis, 3.2 million are in urgent need, and 2.8 million of these people are in the south.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/335642-1210859591030/FPW_August2011.pdf