<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">World food prices fell sharply in July, partly thanks to a deal between Ukraine and Russia lifting a sea blockade that had stopped Ukrainian grain shipments, a UN agency said Friday.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Food prices soared to a record high in March after Russia invaded Ukraine, raising fears that the conflict between two of the world’s breadbaskets would spark hunger in countries relying on their exports.</div><div><br></div><div>While prices remain high, they have now dropped for a fifth straight month, falling by 8.6 per cent in July compared to June, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index.</div><div><br></div><div>The index, which measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, was still 13.1 per cent higher than in July 2021.</div><div><br></div><div>The biggest drop was for vegetable oil prices, which fell by 19.2 per cent between June and July to hit a 10-month low.</div><div><br></div><div>The cereal price index logged a monthly drop of 11.5 per cent, the FAO said.</div><div><br></div><div>The decline for cereals was led by a fall in world wheat prices, ‘partly in reaction to the agreement reached between Ukraine and the Russian Federation to unblock Ukraine’s main Black Sea ports’, the UN agency said.</div><div><br></div><div>Shipments under last month’s UN-brokered deal began this week, with a first vessel carrying corn leaving Ukraine for Lebanon on Monday.</div><div><br></div><div>Three more ships loaded with grain set sail on Friday, on their way to Britain, Ireland and Turkey.</div><div><br></div><div>‘The decline in food commodity prices from very high levels is welcome, especially when seen from a food access viewpoint,’ FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>‘However, many uncertainties remain,’ he said, pointing to high fertiliser prices, a ‘bleak global economic outlook’ and currency movements. - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>