New Delhi, India

The food import costs are on course to hit a near $2 trillion record in 2022. The United Nations Food Agency said on Friday that the growing imports are piling pressure on the world's poorest countries with weak economic forecasts and high debt-to-GDP ratio.

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World food prices soared to record levels in March after the breaking out of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the latter a key grains and oilseeds producer. Although there was a UN-brokered 'Black Sea Grain Initiative' starting July this year which ensured safe sea passage to the ships containing foodgrains in the conflict-prone region, it couldn't plummet the food prices in international markets. 

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“These are alarming signs from a food security perspective,” the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in its twice-yearly Food Outlook report.

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The world’s food import bill is projected to reach $1.94 trillion this year, up 10 per cent year-on-year and higher than previously expected, the FAO said.

It noted that low-income countries’ food import volumes are seen shrinking by 10 per cent as their food import bill for the year remains almost unchanged, pointing to growing accessibility issues.

“Importers are finding it difficult to finance rising international costs, potentially heralding an end of their resilience to higher international prices,” the FAO said.

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In terms of agricultural inputs like fertilisers, which require a lot of energy to produce, the FAO said global import costs are set to rise nearly 50 per cent this year to $424 billion, forcing some countries to buy and use less.

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This will inevitably lead to lower productivity, lower domestic food availability and “negative repercussions for global agricultural output and food security” in 2023, it said.

On the plus side, however, the FAO said oilseeds output is seen rebounding 4.2 per cent to hit an all-time high, sugar output is seen rising 2.6%, while rice output is expected to remain at overall average levels thanks to resilient plantings in Asia and recovering output in Africa.

(With inputs from agencies)

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