El Banco Mundial Preocupado por el Aumento de Precios de Alimentos

El Banco Mundial publica su reporte-alerta sobre el preocupante aumento de precios internacionales de alimentos, tema sobre el cual comenté desde finales del año pasado..... y habrá que estar pendientes
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The World Bank’s food price index increased by 15% between October 2010 and January 2011 and is only 3% below its 2008 peak. The last six months have seen sharp increases in the global prices of wheat, maize, sugar and edible oils, with a relatively smaller increase in rice prices.
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The transmission of higher global maize prices is varied and has depended significantly on domestic harvest conditions. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have benefitted from excellent maize harvests, which have led to a sharp fall in prices. The declines from June–December 2010 shown in table 1 come on the heels of even sharper price falls in the early part of the year—on average, maize prices were lower in 2010 in comparison to 2009 in Uganda (52%), Rwanda (37%), Kenya (33%), Malawi (30%), Ethiopia (22%), and Tanzania (19%).1 However, these prices also exhibit considerable volatility, which has adverse impacts on both producers and consumers. For instance, after a sharp decline in the early part of 2010, maize prices in Rwanda have rebounded by 19% since June 2010. Several Latin American countries saw the price of maize rise dramatically in the last half of 2010 as dry weather lowered yields—the largest increases were witnessed in Brazil (56%) and Argentina (40%). Higher global maize prices are also passed through to consumers indirectly by raising animal feed prices, meat prices, and the price of many processed food categories.