New report exposes scale of food price rises

The World Bank's latest Food Price Watch reveals stark rises in food prices. Among the most striking statistics are:

• In July, world food prices jumped 10 per cent.
• Maize prices hit a record level after rising 25 per cent in that month.
• The price of maize in Mozambique, where people spend over half of their income on food, more than doubled between April and July.
• South Africans faced a 27 per cent hike in wheat prices during those three months.
• Over the last year, maize prices soared by 174 per cent in Malawi.

The Bank identifies drought as the key driver of the price rises but the World Development Movement is warning that financial speculation is exacerbating the scale of the spikes.