FAO’s Food Price Index – which measures monthly changes in international prices of a basket of meat, dairy, cereals, oils and fats, and sugar – dropped nearly four points to 201.8 last month, down 5.1 per cent from August of last year.

The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 210.9 points, down 16.4 points from July and 49.4 points from August 2012.

The drop in grain prices “reflects expectations for strong growth in world cereal production this year and, especially, a sharp recovery in maize,” the FAO said in reference to corn.

Global production of maize is forecast to rise to 983 million tonnes. The bulk of that figure originating in the United States where maize production is expected to reach 343 million tonnes this year, some 25 per cent higher than the 2012 drought-reduced level.

Higher maize crops are officially reported in Argentina and improved prospects in the European Union and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, coarse grain output is predicted to expand 10.5 per cent to 1,285 million tonnes, while the wheat to a 7.6 per cent rise to 710 million tonnes.

World rice production is set to increase by 1.3 per cent, reaching a new high of 497 million tonnes, in milled equivalent.

The boosts have led to a revised forecast of overall world cereal production upwards 14 million tonnes to 2,492 million tonnes, according to a separate FAO report. This would be 179 million tonnes higher than in 2012 and a new record.

The Rome-based agency said that based on the latest forecasts, total use of cereals for direct human consumption is set to expand by 1.2 per cent to 1, 094 million tones.

The FAO Oils/Fats Price Index averaged 185.5 points in August, 5.7 points below the July value and the third consecutive monthly decline.

Dairy prices, FAO noted, averaged 239.1 points in August, 2.8 points more than in July and 37 per cent above its level in August last year. Prices rose last month for all dairy products in the Index except butter due to export supply limits in major trading countries.

The FAO Meat Price Index averaged 175.0 points in August, an increase of 2.2 points.

“First forecasts for the 2013 wheat harvest point to production increasing to 690 million tonnes – 4.3 per cent up on 2012,” according to FAO’s quarterly ‘Crop Prospects and Food Situation’ report.

“This would be the second largest crop on record,” FAO noted in a press release, below the record harvest of 700 million tonnes in 2011.

The hike is expected mostly in Europe, driven by an expansion in wheat planting areas in response to high prices and a recovery in yields from Russia and some other countries, FAO said.

The outlook in the United States, dampened by earlier drought conditions, has improved somewhat, the UN agency said.

Coarse grains and paddy crops are not yet planted making it too early for even a preliminary global cereal forecast, but FAO expects “generally favourable” prospects for the first 2013 coarse grain crops in the southern hemisphere. Rice prospects are also encouraging in several countries below the equator.

The report also surveyed the food security situations in developing countries, including several hotspots. Of the countries cited, FAO noted that insecurity in northern Mali has disrupted food commodity flows worsening an “already precarious” food situation created by a drought in 2011.

Meanwhile, FAO’s Food Price Index – which measures monthly changes in international prices of a basket of meat, dairy, cereals, oils and fats, and sugar – remained at 210 points for a second straight month.

The FAO Cereal Price Index dropped less than 1 per cent to 245 points in February, but still 8 per cent higher than last year at this time.

Prices for oils and fats averaged 206 points, up 0.4 per cent from January. The rise was driven mainly by palm oil, reflecting the expected seasonal production slowdown and reduction in inventories.

Dairy prices rose five points, or 2.4 per cent, to 203 points. Meat prices averaged 178, the same as in January, with marginally higher pork prices offsetting a slight dip in poultry.

Sugar prices declined for a fourth consecutive month on the expectation of a relatively large world production surplus. The FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 259 in February, down 3 per cent, or 8.6 points, from January.

A UN mission undertaken from 18 to 22 January found that cereal, fruit and vegetable production has been halved in some areas, which have also seen massive destruction of irrigation and other infrastructure, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The mission was struck by the plight of the Syrian people whose capacity to cope is dramatically eroded by 22 months of crisis,” said Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, who joined with representatives of six other UN agencies in the mission led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“Destruction of infrastructure in all sectors is massive and it is clear that the longer the conflict will last, the longer it will take to rehabilitate it,” he added.

Affected areas in the capital, Damascus, as well as in the governorates of Homs and Dera’a were visited by the mission, which was coordinated with both the Government and the opposition.

The mission found that vegetable, fruit and olive production declined significantly in both Homs and Dera’a governorates, including a 60 per cent drop in vegetable production in Homs and a 40 per cent drop in olive oil production in Dera’a.

The production of poultry, a traditional source of cheap animal protein, has also been severely hit with major farms destroyed in Homs, Hama and Idlib.

In addition, movement of livestock to grazing areas has not been possible and their survival is compromised by the lack of animal feed and veterinary drugs, the importation of which is hampered by sanctions.

Of the 10 million Syrians who live in rural areas – about 46 per cent of the population – 80 per cent derive their livelihoods from agriculture, according to FAO, and the sector is critical for the survival of millions during the crisis.

“It is clear from discussions with NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and technical officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, that security conditions permitting, agriculture has a huge role to play in helping people to stay on their land and generate income to cope with their most urgent needs,” Mr. Burgeon said.

“They however need urgent agricultural support in terms of seeds, fertilizers, animal feed, veterinary drugs, poultry and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure,” he said.

Meanwhile, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos, who last week sounded the alarm over catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Syria at the UN Security Council, brought her plea for an urgent ramp-up of aid to Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum has convened.

Relaying the results of the multi-agency mission, she said that agency representatives were shocked at what they saw. “They were very clear that the effect of nearly two years of conflict has had a terrible impact on people, especially on children.

“I repeat: four million people need help, two million are internally displaced and 400,000 out of 500,000 Palestinian refugees have been affected,” she said.

She said that despite the dangerous environment that humanitarian partners faced, they were making a difference. “But it is not enough, especially as we cannot keep pace with the rising number of people in acute need,” she stressed.

“We need more people, we need more partners and we need to be able to deliver more quickly,” she added, noting that the humanitarian community had also requested $1.5 billion to help displaced people and their host communities in Syria and neighbouring countries for the next six months.

A funding conference for humanitarian aid for Syria is planned for 30 January in Kuwait, to be hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Emir of that country, she noted.

“We hope that the conference will yield the resources we need,” she said.