World ​food prices rose in August to their highest since late 2022, as adverse weather and ‌war disruption in the Black Sea heightened concern over supply of staples, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of a severe El Nino weather pattern and trade upheaval caused by the Ukraine ​and Iran wars have unsettled agricultural markets, pushing grain prices to three-year highs and sugar to a one-year ​peak.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded ⁠food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from July’s revised reading of 130.8.

That was the highest ​score since November 2022, though nearly 17% below a record peak from March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of ​Ukraine.

“August’s increase in global food prices is a warning that the risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics are converging to tighten supply expectations,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.

The FAO’s ​price benchmarks for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy all rose in August.

The extreme weather in Europe ​affected prospects for the maize (corn) and sugar beet harvests as well as livestock output, while the anticipated El Nino phenomenon ‌fuelled concerns ⁠for palm oil and sugar output in Asia, it said.

Escalating attacks in the Black Sea have curtailed grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine in their 4-1/2-year-old war, while the U.S.-Iran conflict was straining flows of fertiliser for crops.

Among food categories, FAO’s cereals price index rose 2.2% month-on-month to its highest since May 2024, and the ​vegetable oil index edged up ​0.6% to its highest ⁠since June 2022.

The agency’s sugar benchmark jumped 11.9% to its highest since June 2025, with lower production in Brazil’s crucial center-south region adding to weather concerns in ​Europe and Asia.

In a separate report, the agency cut its 2026 global cereal production ​forecast by ⁠3.4 million metric tons from a previous estimate in July to 2.980 billion tons, now 2.0% below 2025 in the largest annual decline since 2018.

Projected output would still be the second-largest on record, however.

Forecast world cereal stocks at the close of 2026/2027 were revised ⁠down ​1.1% to 947.2 million tons, now only marginally above the previous ​season.

A reduced estimate of coarse grain stocks outweighed an upward revision for wheat that reflected an anticipated build-up in Russian and Ukrainian stocks ​due to shipping disruption, the FAO said.

Western countries are continuing efforts to destabilize the Eurasian region and are seeking to establish military infrastructure in Central Asia under the pretext of countering threats from Afghanistan, a senior Russian security official said.

Alexey Shevtsov, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, made the remarks during a session titled “CSTO-SCO: Security Space” at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

Shevtsov said worsening economic conditions had not stopped Western countries from pursuing what he described as efforts to destabilize the Eurasian region. He claimed that, following the loss of colonial and neocolonial mechanisms of influence in Africa, Western countries were increasingly seeking access to Eurasia’s resources and logistics routes.

He pointed to conflicts and tensions in Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Taiwan Strait and other areas as examples of what he described as Western efforts to destabilize the region.

According to Shevtsov, Western countries are also seeking to deploy military infrastructure in Central Asian countries, particularly by citing the threat from Afghanistan.

“Westerners continue to persistently attempt to deploy their military infrastructure in Central Asian countries, particularly under the pretext of countering the threat from Afghanistan,” Shevtsov said, arguing that the threat was being exaggerated for these purposes.

Shevtsov also said NATO countries conducted more than 100 military exercises in 2025, with most taking place on the alliance’s eastern flank. He claimed the exercises focused more on offensive than defensive operations, including breaching defensive positions and capturing territory.

The Russian official also cited the so-called “Trump route” in Armenia as another example of what he described as Western efforts to expand influence in the region. He claimed the project would be economically ineffective even under favorable conditions and could allow the United States to establish intelligence and potentially military infrastructure near Iran’s borders.

Shevtsov said the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should play a central role in strengthening security and stability across Eurasia.

He argued that cooperation between the two organizations could serve as the basis for creating an architecture of “equal and indivisible security” in the region, encompassing both military and economic cooperation.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he will not make positive comments about the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) as long as Afghan girls remain barred from attending school.

Speaking to the Financial Times during an interview at his home in Kabul, Karzai said IEA officials frequently contact him to complain about his public statements and ask why he does not say something positive about their government.

Karzai said he tells them that positive remarks will not come from him until girls are allowed to return to school. “When girls go back to school, I will have something positive to say about you. Not today,” he said.

The former president also described education for girls and women’s participation in society as fundamental to Afghanistan’s future. He said educated Afghan women are needed in business, schools, medicine, engineering, the judiciary and the media.

Karzai also called for political coexistence in Afghanistan, saying both the IEA and its opponents are Afghans and that the country needs compromise rather than another cycle of conflict and changes in power.

“The Taliban (IEA) belongs to Afghanistan. And the opposition to the Taliban (IEA) belongs to Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Afghanistan needs to become “a country for everyone.”

The former president also said the ongoing US-Iran conflict is having a significant impact on Afghanistan’s economy and regional stability. Given Afghanistan’s close historical, cultural and geographic ties with Iran, Karzai said Afghanistan strongly wants the conflict to end.