The global price of meat marks a historic record with an explosive increase in the last year.

The Food Price Index of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which measures the monthly variation of international prices of a basket that includes five types of food products, showed that meat has risen by almost 10% so far this year. The meat category, which includes products from beef, pork, poultry, and lamb, averaged almost 128 points in August, marking a historical high since the indicator was created three decades ago. The price rose especially in beef and lamb, while the prices of pork and poultry remained virtually stable. This record reflects a combination of the scarcity of meat for export in several of the main producing countries and sustained global demand for imports, says Monika Tothova, senior economist at the FAO, to BBC Mundo. "Outbreaks of animal diseases and the persistent tensions and uncertainties about the direction of trade policies" are, according to the expert, factors that have given a further boost to the increase in prices. And ...