Agflation (or agrarian inflation) is an economic phenomenon of an advanced increase in the price for food and for industrial agricultural crops when compared with the general rise in prices or with the rise in prices in the non-agricultural sector.[1] The term was increasingly used in the analytical reports, for example, by the investment banks Merrill Lynch in early 2007[2][3] and Goldman Sachs in early 2008.[4] They used the term to denote a sharp rise in prices for agricultural products, or, more precisely, a rapid increase in food prices against the background of a decrease in its reserves, a relatively low general inflation rate, and insignificant growth in the level of wages. Agflation has become an increasingly important issue for many governments. From time to time agflation may become so severe that the World Food Programme has described the phenomenon as a "silent tsunami".[5] Agflation endangers food security, particularly for developing countries, and can cause social unrest.
Several reasons may cause agflation: structural (changes in the supply-demand balance), monetary (the result of loose monetary conditions or speculations), and external (climate change, natural disasters, etc.) Among them are:
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