Food Outlook – Biannual Report on Global Food Markets

Book excerpt: Food markets will face many more months of uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while most markets are braced for a major global economic downturn, the agri-food sector is likely to display more resilience to the crisis than other sectors. Food Outlook is published by the Trade and Markets Division of FAO under Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS). It is a biannual publication focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets. Each report provides comprehensive assessments and short term forecasts for production, utilization, trade, stocks and prices on a commodity by commodity basis and includes feature articles on topical issues. Food Outlook maintains a close synergy with another major GIEWS publication, Crop Prospects and Food Situation, especially with regard to the coverage of cereals. Food Outlook is available in English. The summary section is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. Special features COVID-19: From a global health crisis to a global food crisis? Comparing the current crisis, the “Great Lockdown” with the last major crisis, the “Great Recession”, this feature article identifies differences and communalities across countries and commodities. It provides an informative benchmark on how to return market functioning to normality, even if contagion rates remain unchecked. Revisions to the FAO food price indices From July 2020, the FAO Food Price Index and Global Food Consumption Price Indices will be re-based to the period of 2014-16, with improvements made to both their price coverage and representativeness. This feature article describes the main revisions and how they affect the movements of the indices.