Monthly Archives: January 2023

Food Security

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Latest Update – December 19, 2022

Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information between August to November 2022 shows high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries; 88.2% of low-income countries, 90.7% of lower-middle-income countries, and 93% of upper-middle-income countries have seen inflation levels above 5%, with many experiencing double-digit inflation. The share of high-income countries with high food price inflation has risen to 81.8%. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

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A transformed fertilizer market is needed in response to the food crisis in Africa

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One clear message from my dozen meetings last week with African leaders who were in Washington for a summit with the U.S. government was that fertilizer prices are out of reach for most farmers, putting the crop cycle and rural stability at risk. Across 45 countries globally, 205 million people are in acute food insecurity, meaning they have so little access to food that their lives and livelihoods are in danger.  One key obstacle to food production in many developing countries is access to fertilizers, which enrich the soil with the nutrients needed for healthy crops. Sufficient primary raw materials – nitrogen, potash, phosphate, and natural gas – and fertilizer production facilities are essential to farmers across the developing world, but high fertilizer prices are blocking the 2023 and 2024 crop cycle.

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