Nigeria, Feb. 4 -- Global food prices continued rising for the eighth conservative month in January, led by cereals, vegetable oils and sugar, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has said.

This is according to the Food Price Index report released on Thursday. The index tracks international prices of most commonly traded food commodities.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 113.3 points in January, making a 4.3 per cent increase from December 2020 and reaching its highest level since July 2014.

In the report, the FAO Cereal Price Index showed a sharp 7.1 per cent monthly increase, led by maize prices, which surged 11.2 per cent and are now 42.3 per cent above their January 2020 level.

The FAO said this reflects th...