How much one plate of food costs around the world in 2020
In New York State a meal costs just 0.6 percent of someone's income
World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations has published a list comparing the price of a plate of food around the world on the ocassion of World Food Day.
They published a food index of some of the top countries where people pay the highest portion of their income on their meal. According to this report, in New York State, for example, ingredients for a simple meal - perhaps a soup or a simple stew - costs just 0.6 percent of someone's income.
Bangladesh is also on this list, considering an average Bangladeshi spends around $8.90 or Tk 755.08 on food . That's a little more than 7 percent of the total income of an average Bangladeshi citizen.
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South Sudan is on the top of that list where a shopper would have to spend an astonishing 186 percent of their income, $392.82 or around Tk 33326.82 to do the same.
Such a difference brings into sharp focus the huge inequalities at play between those people in developing countries and others in more prosperous parts of the world.
As WFP mentioned, conflict and climate change have long affected people's ability to afford food across multiple countries, as they are driven from their land and livelihoods and left unable to produce or buy the products they need to feed their families.
But the ongoing crisis of Covid-19 has added another layer to the challenges faced by most vulnerable groups, through increased unemployment, loss of remittances and weak economies that prevent countries from offsetting the worst effects of the pandemic. Market-dependent groups in urban areas are increasingly at risk.
Sub-Saharan Africa in particular stands out, with 17 out of the top 20 countries in the report coming from this region. A high dependency on food imports and on informal labour are among the reasons for this.
WFP suggests that, this cycle of inequalities can be broken down with more investment in the short term to support people from the fallout of Covid-19, and greater emphasis on building sustainable food systems in the long term as a foundation for access to affordable, nutritious food.
