Global food price declines for 3rd consecutive year in 2014

Global food price declined further in 2014, marking the third consecutive annual decline, according to a recent report of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), reports BSS.
The report, released last week, noted that the FAO's Food Price Index, a benchmark for world food price, declined by 3.7 per cent last year from 2013 when the average value of the index was 202 points.
This year-on-year drop came despite FAO's sub-index for meat rising to an all-time high annual average of 199 points, up 8.1 per cent from 2013. Cereals, by contrast, dropped 12.5 per cent from the previous year, buoyed by forecasts of record production and ample inventories.
The report said that the index in December dropped 1.7 per cent to 188.6 from its November position.
FAO said large supplies and record stocks combined with a stronger US dollar and falling oil prices contributed to the decline.
The Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices of five major food commodity groups on international markets. It aggregates price sub-indices of cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.