Food security

Food inflation worries

The November food inflation brief from the independent Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) showed food price inflation rising to 9% from October’s 8.7%. The consumer price index (CPI) dropped to 5.5% from 5.9% in October.

Over 12 months, meat prices had risen by 3.5%, BFAP said. Beef and mutton prices had dropped, while chicken (fresh portions and IQF frozen packs) was up between 10% and 20%. It gave no month-on-month breakdown of meat prices.

The BFAP said that, after two quarters of declining food price inflation, the recent increases were mainly due to higher vegetable, fruit and dairy prices.

“Looking ahead, we are still confident that food price inflation could stabilise, and we could even see some declining trends in near future if vegetable prices start declining due to higher production levels in response to high producer process. 

“However, over the long run, our infrastructure challenges and costs within the value chain (electricity, fuel, wages) are a reason for concern. Even if food inflation rates decline, rising costs within the chain imply that food will become more expensive in absolute terms, which is a major concern for low-income households,” the BFAP stated.