• World food prices decline for second month in a row.
• wheat prices climb again.
• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food prices to a record high in March.

In May, world food prices declined for the second month in a row, but wheat prices climbed again as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged on and India prohibited the commodity’s exports, according to a UN body.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food prices to a record high in March as both countries are major exports of agricultural goods, sparking fears of a global hunger crisis.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index fell 0.6 percent in May from April as the prices of dairy products and vegetable oils dropped. Prices, however, were still 56.2 percent higher than a year ago.

Read more: Egypt bans third-party wheat trading until the end of August

Wheat prices, meanwhile, rose by 5.6 percent in May compared to the previous month.

They “rose in response to an export ban announced by India and concerns over crop conditions in several leading exporting countries as well as reduced production prospects in Ukraine due to the war,” the FAO said.

Citing inflation and its own food security needs, India banned last month any new wheat exports without government approval after the hottest March on record — blamed on climate change — hit harvests.

According to the FAO, the easing of an export ban on palm oil in Indonesia contributed to a 3.5 percent drop in vegetable oil prices.

Read more: The wheat crisis in Ukraine has triggered a global chain reaction of food export bans ranging from cooking oil to goat meat