Global food prices increased for the eighth consecutive month in February, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday.
World cereal prices have advanced radically with export prices of major grains up at least 70 percent from February last year.
"Unexpected oil price spikes could further exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets," said David Hallam, director of the FAO's Trade and Market Division.
"This adds even more uncertainty concerning the price outlook just as plantings for crops in some of the major growing regions are about to start," Hallam said.
The Rome-based U.N. agency said that due to growing
demand and declining production in world cereals last year, global cereal stocks this year are expected to fall sharply.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 236 points in February, up 2.2 percent from January, the highest record in real and nominal terms since FAO started monitoring prices in 1990.
The Cereal Price Index, which includes prices of main food staples such as wheat, rice and maize, rose by 3.7 percent in February to 254 points, the highest level since July 2008.