Geneva: The cost of key foods edged up last month as searing heatwaves and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty impacted energy prices around the world.According to United Nations, new data published on Friday from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicated that a basket of staple foods cost one per cent more in July than a year ago. The report highlights that food inflation has kept staple food prices above 2025 levels, driven by factors such as heatwaves, El Niño, and global conflicts, which are causing market uncertainties and threatening harvests.Commodities registering standout price surges included sugar, which was up 5.6 per cent in July. This increase is mainly due to concerns about the potential impacts of persistent hot and dry weather on crop yields in the European Union and El Niño-related weather conditions in key producing countries in Asia, as detailed in the FAO Food Price Index update.Cereals experienced a notable rise, increasing by 3.4 per cent from June, reversing the decl ines seen earlier in the year, and settling 6.9 per cent above their July 2025 level. Despite rice prices holding steady, global wheat prices saw a 5.8 per cent increase. This rise is attributed to continued disruptions to Black Sea exports caused by the ongoing full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the expected impact of recent heatwaves on crop yields in several countries.World maize prices rose by 3.6 per cent, driven by concerns over hot and dry weather in parts of the United States, along with spillover effects from firmer energy markets amid heightened geopolitical tensions, as reported by the FAO. The vegetable oil price index reached its highest price since June 2022, increasing by a full two per cent, linked to demand from Indonesia's biodiesel sector and higher crude oil prices. Despite the increase in soy oil prices due to robust feedstock demand from the United States, global sunflower and rapeseed oil prices decreased.In related news, UN-backed food insecurity experts have noted a notable improvement in hunger levels in Malawi compared to the last two years. This improvement is largely due to a good harvest in the 2025/26 farming season following the severe El Niño impacts of 2024/25, as explained in the IPC update. However, an estimated 1.9 million people in Malawi are experiencing crisis levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3. The situation is expected to worsen during the October 2026 to March 2027 lean season, potentially pushing 2.6 million people into crisis or level 3 hunger. High food prices, inflation, and below-average staple production are driving this acute food insecurity, while forecasts of a strong El Niño during the 2026/27 rainy season underscore the need for close monitoring, as stated by IPC experts.