For November the Food and Agriculture Organization increased the food price index to 105 points, up 3.9 percent from October and 6.5 percent higher than the corresponding month in 2019.  Contributors to the increase included the Vegetable Oil Price Index gaining 14.5 percent in the month and the Cereal Price Index up 2.5 percent and 20 percent higher than in November 2019.  The FAO Dairy Price and the Meat Price Indexes rose 0.9 percent from October.  The component index for poultry meat declined, but beef and pork increased.

The FAO recognized the impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing La Nina as factors increasing prices.  Due to external factors, forty-five nations will require external assistance for food, thirty-four of them in Africa.  The La Nina will increase rainfall in Southern Africa and East Asia and result in drought in the near-East, Asia and East Africa, impacting food supply.