The United Nations’ food agency on Tuesday said it had started a new project in Turkey to improve costs and price monitoring in agricultural food supply chains.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) move comes as a broader surge in inflation is pushing food prices upward around the globe as economies recover from the coronavirus crisis.

The agrifood system is also facing multiple threats, including the climate crisis, conflicts and economic shocks.

The new technical cooperation project titled "Support for Improved Cost and Price Monitoring in Agrifood Supply Chain" represents FAO-Turkey’s timely response to these issues, the agency said in a statement.

Food prices around the world jumped 28% in 2021 to their highest level in a decade, according to the FAO data, with a slim hope of a return to more stable market conditions this year.

The agency’s food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 125.7 points in 2021, the highest since 131.9 in 2011.

The FAO has warned that the higher costs are putting poorer populations at risk in countries reliant on imports and has remained cautious about whether price pressures might abate this year.

Turkey’s annual inflation rate surged to 36.1% in December, its highest in 19 years.

Annual consumer prices were pushed higher by the heavily weighted food and drink prices, which jumped nearly 44%, according to the official data.

Reflecting soaring import prices, December’s producer price index rose 79.89% year-over-year.

The new project aims to determine the current status of Turkey’s agrifood cost and price monitoring systems with the goal of enhancing the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the FAO said.

"FAO will help the ministry meet these challenges and take necessary measures to address price volatility and price shocks through improved monitoring systems for decision making."

The kickoff meeting for the project was held on Jan. 10, 2022, with the participation of experts from FAO and the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

Experts emphasized the importance of monitoring costs and prices at all stages of the agrifood system, especially in the context of increasing inflation and associated impact on a global scale.

The agency said the project will also contribute to the ministry’s 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and to achieving "Zero Hunger" – the second of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.