World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 137

World Food Policy

to take a close look at the definition of
the vertical axis: it does not start at zero.
Graphs constructed that way provide an
exaggerated impression of the rates of
change of the variables shown in the lines.
Moreover, the FAO graph reproduced
here covers only a relatively short period.

development we should take a look at the
longer term evolution of prices as shown
in Figure 2, based on the same type of
FAO data. Against the view that prices
are on a declining trend—and possibly
declining without any floor—longer term
perspective shows that even though food
prices are currently on the decline, they
are still higher than they used to be before
the period when the price explosion
took place. This is true even if prices are
corrected for inflation, as was done for the
data shown in Figure 2.

Taking an even longer time period
into consideration we must remember
that around 40 years ago, i.e., in the mid1970s, the world also experienced an
extraordinary peak of food prices. At that
time governments and the international
community were equally concerned about
world food security and its future, and new
Figure 1: FAO Information on Food policies for agricultural development and
Commodity Prices
new institutions were established, some of
Source: Reproduced from FAO (2015)
which have survived until today. But after
that price peak in 1974–1975 prices came

In order to gain a more telling down again and continued along their
impression of the market situation and its secular decline in real terms.

Figure 2: Evolution of Prices for Cereals and Food Since 1990
Source: Based on data available at FAO (2015)

137