Global food prices dropped for the tenth consecutive month in January, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a Rome-based UN agency, has said. Price indices for vegetable oils, dairy, and sugar drove the January decline, the agency said, issuing two new reports on food production expectations. The FAO food price index fell 17.9 percent below its all-time peak, reached in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was pointed out. The downward pricing trend was helped in part by a pivotal agreement signed in July to unblock Ukraine grain exports amid the ongoing war. Tracking monthly changes in the global prices of commonly traded food commodities, the latest index averaged 131.2 points in January, falling 0.8 percent since December. FAO reported small price decreases on its latest meat and sugar indices.