Food prices set to remain higher in next decade as farm output slows

FOOD prices will remain higher in the next decade than in the past 10 years as agricultural production slows and demand increases, the OECD and the United Nations said in a joint report yesterday.

Global farm output is forecast to grow an average 1.7% a year through 2020, compared with 2.6% in the previous decade, the Paris-based OECD and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said in their annual Agricultural Outlook report.

“Slower growth is expected for most crops, especially oilseeds and coarse grains,” they said in the report. “The global slowdown in projected yield improvements of important crops will continue to exert pressure on international prices.”