World food prices hit record high

The FAO's Food Price Index measures the cost of a basket of basic food supplies -- sugar, cereals, dairy, oils and fats and meat -- across the globe.

The index rose by 3.4% in January -- the seventh monthly increase in a row -- to its highest level since records began in 1990.

The cost of sugar, cereals, dairy and oils and fats all went up last month, while meat prices remained steady.

FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian said high prices were likely to persist in the months to come.

Rising commodities costs are one of the major factors behind a growing wave of civil unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, economist Nouriel Roubini warned that rapidly rising food prices posed a serious threat to global stability.

"What has happened in Tunisia and is happening right now in Egypt, but also the riots in Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, are related not only to high unemployment rates and to income and wealth inequality, but also to the very sharp rise in food and commodity prices," he told CNN.

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