UN Official: food prices to remain volatile

The United Nations Food and Agriculture known as FAO said in a statement on Thursday that it expects the already high and volatile prices of food worldwide to continue rising, in light of the financial crisis that is facing Europe and the US. Trade and Markets Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Ekaterina Krivonos said in a statement to the German News Agency that the world is facing a situation of great uncertainty and high prices will continue to rise. The FAO director expects the prices of food to remain volatile for some time: "It is likely that prices will remain volatile over the coming years due to the increased occurrence of extreme weather events that affect yields," Krivonos said in a statement on FAO''s official website. She also said that the decline in the price of wheat was a temporary retreat, warning that there isn''t a direction towards lowering prices. She said that the decline in the price of wheat was due to the good harvests in a number of countries including the US, Argentina and Russia. Krivonos called on Latin American countries and other developing countries to take the necessary measures to prevent the rise in food prices as well as take measures to protect the poor from any repercussions of the current economic crises.