HealthMany low-income families like Khaleda and Alfaz in Dhaka's Rampura are dropping protein as prices outpace wages; food inflation reached 7.22 percent in September, and Bangladesh ranks 84th of 122 countries on the 2026 Global Hunger Index.
AgribusinessDisrupted shipping, high energy and fertiliser prices and the risk of El Nino drought cutting grain output could push world food prices higher still; FAO's Food Price Index averaged 136 points in September, its highest since November 2022.
OpinionIndia's protein market is put at about Rs 15,300 crore in 2026, yet egg prices rose 35-40% in a year. A Down To Earth column by Swasti Pachauri asks whether affordable protein is slipping out of reach of poorer households.
CropsSouth Africa's Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy says fuel and electricity inflation is raising costs across farming and the food chain, while a strong El Niño could cut summer crops heading into 2027.
AgribusinessBFAP's latest brief with Absa Agribusiness shows food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation at 1.1% in August, yet a basic healthy food basket for a family of four cost R3,935, about 55% of a one-minimum-wage household's income.
Market ManagementUSDA's Economic Research Service forecasts all food prices up 2.9 percent in 2026, grocery prices up 2.4 percent and restaurant prices up 3.5 percent, with beef, fresh vegetables and seafood rising faster and eggs falling sharply.
CropsWandile Sihlobo of Agbiz expects wheat imports of about 2.0 million tonnes as the 2026-27 crop is estimated at 1.8 million tonnes, while world prices have risen on logistics disruptions rather than short supply.
BBS data show overall inflation fell for a third straight month to 8.26 percent in August, the lowest in ten months, with food inflation at 7.02 percent, below both July and the same month last year.
