Food prices remain high into 2022 on shortages due to extreme weather

The prices of agricultural commodities went up in 2021 due to the bad weather and then went up again in 2022.

Brazilian coffee, Belgian potatoes, and Canadian yellow peas, which are used as a substitute for plant-based foods, saw their prices increase last year due to extreme temperatures and flooding.

Climate change will make these conditions more frequent and intense.

Logistical issues and changes to consumption habits caused the price of staple goods such as sugar and wheat to go up last year.

The agriculture sector is at risk from both individual extreme weather events and long-term shifts in the climate, according to a report by the Stockholm Environment Institute. The risks were much higher than the opportunities for the sector.

A series of extreme weather events that occurred around the world in the middle of 2021 caused a range of crops to be damaged and drove up prices.

Coffee prices in Brazil went to seven-year highs in July after severe frosts hit the country. Global supply chain disruption and a shortage of container ships drove prices higher later in the year.

Concerns about further crop damage have been heightened by the erratic weather in Brazil.

The La Nia weather pattern developed for the second year in a row at the end of the year, with the phenomenon expected to intensify rainfall as well as droughts around the world.

Mario Zappacosta, a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said that the prices can already be seen in advance of the real phenomenon.

The price of substitute crops could also go up.

Pea prices rocketed in the middle of the 21st century after an unprecedented heatwave and dry spell in Canada. Manufacturers of plant-based meat alternatives that rely on the ingredient were affected by the price of peas doubling.

The price of Belgian potatoes went up after the flooding in Europe.

Climate change would have a dramatic impact on agricultural production around the globe, and would reduce crop yields in certain areas, according to a report by the Stockholm Environment Institute.

They estimated that global sugar cane yields could fall 59 per cent in the last three decades to 2200, while Arabica coffee and maize could fall 45 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.

Magnus Benzie is one of the report authors. He said that higher prices and lower yields could cause food insecurity in less resilient countries and cause higher costs for consumers around the world.

He said that how countries reacted to shortages and extreme events could make crises worse.

As the world warms up, concurrent crises, such as successive or simultaneous droughts, are likely to intensify shortages and become more common.

Emiko Terazono reports additional reporting.

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