The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's Food Price Index rose for the second consecutive month in April. The one percent rise follows another increase in March, which was the first time prices had shown an overall increase in almost six months.

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FAO said on Thursday, "As in March, last month's increase was driven almost exclusively by a sharp rise in dairy prices." In fact, prices of most other food groups fell. The Food Price Index measures the cost of a basket of staple foodstuffs across the world in order to assess price fluctuations by category.

In addition to the month-on-month rise, the April Food Price Index was also 1 percent higher than it stood in April 2012, though April food prices remained 9 percent below the peak observed in February 2011.

Dairy prices were up by a remarkable 14.9 percent from March, on the top of an 11 percent increase the previous month.

In April, FAO described the jump in prices between February and March as "one of the largest recorded changes" in the history of the FPI; the price surge was caused by hot, dry weather in Oceania, which led milk production to fall off steeply, impacting on processing in the region. This week, FAO revealed the "exceptional volatility" observed in March has only increased, resulting in the index's "second largest monthly change on record". The principal factor in April rises was a steep decline in milk production in New Zealand, the world's largest dairy exporter.

By contrast, the FAO Cereal Price Index dropped by 4.1 percent from March, and 4.9 percent compared to April 2012. Fats and oils were down, too, showing a 1.5 percent price reduction from March. FAO said, "Weakening energy prices and persistent concerns about the global economy continued to weigh on the vegetable oil complex as a whole."

Meat Prices were unchanged, having largely remained level since the latter part of 2012; prices have fluctuated by less than one percent either way for over six months, though FAO acknowledged that "meat prices overall remain high by historical standards."

Sugar prices fell 3.6 percent.