The war in the Middle East has pushed food commodity prices higher due to higher energy and fertiliser costs, the UN’s food agency said, AFP reports.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Food Price Index, which measures the monthly changes in international prices of a basket of food commodities, had increased 2.4 per cent in March from February.

Within the index, the category of vegetable oil saw the sharpest rise, of 5.1pc over February, as palm oil prices reached their highest point since the middle of 2022, due to effects from spiking crude oil prices, FAO said.