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Food prices still high: FAO

ROME: A bumper cereal crop had stabilised the world food supply, but food prices remained high in many developing countries, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a report on Thursday.

Easing of market conditions was reflected in the benchmark FAO Food Price Index, which had fallen by one-third from its peak in June 2008 .

But food prices remained high in many developing countries, and access to food by the poor also continued to be threatened by loss of employment, income and other effects of the global economic crisis, the report said.

So far the improvement largely concerned cereals — the critical sector for food security — after record production in 2008 overshot original forecasts, said the report. The bumper crop had also facilitated replenishment of global reserves to pre-crisis levels. — Xinhua

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