Supply side pressure have been triggered by a host of factors – increasing urbanization, diversion of land for biofuel production, inadequate investment in research and technology, spikes in costs of inputs such as diesel and fertilizer and disturbances arising from climate change.
The impact of these factors underpinning high food prices was amplified further by country specific policy interventions, particularly export bans on specific commodities by certain countries. Import barriers in some countries to protect domestic producers and large subsidies to farm production in several advanced economies have also influenced the supply response of farm output to distorted price signals. 21.